You Will Leave A Mark
by ixxivxcvi
Summary: And maybe they're not meant to be, but maybe that's just how it works. /Beck/Tori, Beck-centric.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious. Because really, if I did, why the hell would I be on fanfiction? Whatever. Enjoy, I guess.**

**Chapter 1**

He startles awake in his bed, as the last remnants of a curvaceous brunette fade from his mind. He shakes his head as he sits up and decides not to dwell on his dreams. Dreams are meaningless, right? Yeah. Just a place for your subconscious to do whatever the hell it wanted. You had no control over it. Yeah. That sounds right. He starts getting ready for school about an hour earlier than he needs to, because, sleep is futile at this point. He doesn't need her in his head anymore. (Even though he knows she's stuck in his conscious mind just as much as his subconscious mind.) But he won't admit that.

He's just going through the motions all day, tired as hell, until he gets to Sikowitz's class. Apparently, they're to act out scenes in random groups of four. He sits up a little farther in his chair, suddenly not so tired, and looks around. His eyes fall on her. Tori Vega. She's whispering something to Cat, no doubt securing their partnership, and they nod and then she looks around for others to be in their group and then suddenly she's looking at him and his mind just goes blank.

He's about to open his mouth to mouth something, a 'yes!' even, because dude… _she wants him in her group_, but then she flicks her eyes to Jade next to him and then she moves on. He doesn't know why he feels a surge of disappointment and embarrassment or why he doesn't want to look at Tori or Jade or _anyone_ all of a sudden, so he settles for having an intense staring contest with his scuffed boots.

Sikowitz announces that he would be picking the groups, so "don't get too excited."

_Yeah, Beck,_ he scolds himself. _Don't get too excited._

He doesn't get to be in her group, but he's not in a group with Jade either, so whatever, it's cool. He's with three people he sees around school but he doesn't really know them all that well, so he acts out his lines a little stiffly because all of a sudden he's _so _over this scene and this class and this school and he knows he's just bitter and dramatic but she blatantly did not want to be with him, because she looked away! The rational part of his mind reasons that she probably knew Jade would flip her lid and pull the possessive card out if Tori were to choose him, but whatever. Rationality only gets you so far.

Finally, his scene is over and done with and he gets to sit down. He guesses the other members in his group did well enough to distract from the fact that he really didn't give a shit. Sikowitz calls the next few groups up and he doesn't pay attention. Not until he hears her name being called followed by two other people and then Jade. Interesting.

They make their way onstage, and Tori turns her back to everyone for a sec, looks over her lines, and then bends over to place her script on the ground, as instructed. She probably didn't even notice that she was giving the whole class a nice view of her ass, but hey, _he wasn't complaining. _His eyebrows shoot up, and suddenly he's _so_ interested in this scene. In fact he's so interested, he doesn't even notice half the guys in the audience doing the same thing, or Jade shooting daggers at him from stage left.

He supposes he should feel guilty for looking at her like that, but hey, he's only human. A teenaged, hormonal human with a bitchasaurus of a girlfriend who likes to withhold anything even remotely sexual. He cringes for a minute on the word girlfriend. There was that. He tries to keep his focus back on his pale, dark-haired girlfriend in question acting out her lines with just a little bit too much fakeness. But he can't keep his eyes off of _her_. The girl plaguing his dreams every night. The one with the sunkissed skin and the beautiful mahogany hair and the mesmerizing amber eyes… No. He shakes his head clear from those thoughts as he shifts his focus to someone else onstage. She isn't mesmerizing. Brown hair, plain brown eyes. Like half of the rest of the world's population. Yeah, there is absolutely _nothing _remarkable about Victoria Vega.

But as his eyes are once again drawn towards her when she puts a particularly loud emphasis on a line, she locks eyes with him for just a split second, and Beck knows he is just lying to himself.

**So there you have it folks. Chapter one. I am definitely going to have the next one out very soon, later today for sure. (It's four-thirty in the morning and I'm pretty much a zombie at this point, so if there are a shit ton of errors, I deeply apologize. I tried to catch them all. Heh, Pokemon. .) Annnnyywayys, I'm not too sure where this is headed, so we'll have to see. Goodnight. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: If I even need to write the word disclaimer, that should give you some idea that this ain't mine. So, this ain't mine!**

**Chapter 2**

He internally groans when the bell rings, signaling the start of lunch and the start of the endless string of complaints from Jade. She goes off on him about how he wasn't paying closer attention to her during the scene, and, while she is pretty much completely right, he says nothing and just lets her continue her tirade as they make their way out into the hallway. _Bitch._ He mentally spits out the word as he locks eyes with her for a second, exasperated, and this actually shocks him, because, while being completely true, he is still taken aback by the amount of venom that seemed to ooze from that silent insult.

For a second he panics, could she tell what he just thought? Oh my god, can she tell what he's thinking right now? What he was thinking before? But then he comes to his senses and assures himself that she didn't suddenly develop telepathic powers because she isn't really some dark, evil witch. (As much as he likes to think she is.) He laughs a little too loudly at the mental picture he just conjured up of Jade in a tall, pointy witch hat cackling menacingly with talon-like hands stirring a bubbling cauldron. That was just _so _Jade.

They reach the courtyard, and as they are making their way to the table, she fumes.

"Are you laughing at me Beck? Are you seriously _laughing _right now?"She proceeds to throw a string of insults his way and he proceeds to tune her out.

They reach the usual table and he sees Cat, Robbie, and Andre already sitting on the far side and Jade takes a spot farthest away from all three. He sits next to her out of pure obligation, careful to leave at least seven inches in between them, because hello, he didn't have to _enjoy _it for god's sake.

He gets a strange surge of happy when he realizes the only open spot is next to him and Tori had yet to arrive. Pretty soon Jade realizes he isn't listening to her in the slightest because he tries to look really invested in hearing Cat tell about the dream she had about butterscotch unicorns and fairy castles. Jade gets up in a huff to buy a salad or something, mumbling obscenities the whole way. At least she wasn't heckling him for his cash. For once.

Tori reaches the table a few minutes later and she sits on his right, a little too far away from him and a little too close to Andre to his liking. He doesn't even try to justify the pang of whatever the hell it was that hit him when he notices this. She greets everyone with a brilliant smile, getting mumbles and the respective "Hey, TORI!" from Cat. And then suddenly she's turning to him, still smiling her sunshine smile while looking beautiful and radiant as always and says, "Where's Jade?" in her musical voice as she takes out a turkey sandwich.

Okay, so maybe not the ideal words he's like to hear from her, but with Tori, every word she muttered was just like a sweet song.

…Wow. Did he seriously just think that? He has got to be losing his mind. Must be the lack of sleep. _Thanks to you_, he thinks. He realizes he still hasn't answered her, and grunts "salad" and then turns away (cowers away) from her to sip his Coke and hide his idiocy. He is so thankful he has the ability to keep a calm exterior and never betray how he really feels, because inside he's absolutely flipping out. _I'm such an idiot. SUCH an idiot. That was reeeal smooth. I'm sure you charmed the socks off of her on that one, Beck!  
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He tries not to look at her too much during lunch because he knows he'll probably just make a damn fool of himself again if he tries to speak with her some more and he's still mentally berating himself for looking like a complete tool. Jade comes back and slams her plastic salad container down gaining everyone's attention.

Everyone seems to be waiting for her to say something.

"Hey, _guys._" She says sarcastically, even though Cat chimes a "Hey, Jade!" That is a little too bright for this situation.

Jade continues as though Cat hadn't spoken. "So. Sikowitz's class today. Crazy right?" She tries to act like she's actually making an effort to speak casually to everyone, but everyone can hear the disdain her voice, and realistically, Jade doesn't just strike up a conversation without some ulterior motive. "I mean, _I_ thought it was pretty crazy, what with Beck staring at Tori's _ass_ and all." And there it was.

He freezes as everyone turns to him and spits out the mouthful of soda he just swallowed all over his lunch. Well, that's just cool. He tries to collect himself and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand as he avoids the looks on everyone's faces. He doesn't even want to _think_ about what Tori is thinking. He realizes he still hasn't said anything and the longer he sits there like an idiot staring at the Coke all over his food the more he looks completely guilty. He clears his throat and looks up at Jade.

"What the hell are you talking about?" He thanks whatever higher power there is in the universe that he was able to keep his voice from cracking.

"Oh, don't deny it _Beckett. _It was so obvious. You remember what I'm talking about right? When Tor-Tor over here bent over before our scene started? Oh yes. You got an eyeful!" Jade laughs wickedly, as she knew this was totally going to screw up Beck and Tori's friendship and probably make it weird between him and Andre.

He's about to open his mouth to _denydenydeny_, when it occurs to him that he's faced with two decisions here. Totally start a fight and deny every accusation and apologize to Tori for his crazy girlfriend and take shit from Jade for a while but eventually everyone forgets about it. Or… there's another totally unchartered path that winds through a twisted dark forest with no guaranteed outcome and it is probably really stupid and potentially life threatening, considering it was _Jade _he was dealing with. He looks at everyone before settling his eyes on BitchJade and thinks, _fuck it._

He smirks as he begins to speak, knowing this would completely throw her off. "You know what? I'm not going to deny it, Jade. I, Beckett Oliver, was totally and completely staring at Victoria Vega's ass in class today. And I don't even care. I'm not ashamed, because, _she has a pretty great ass._" He finishes up with a laugh and sees everyone's completely shocked faces.

He hears a squeak from beside him and prepares himself for the wrath of the Jade-monster. "You can't talk to me like that! I'm your girlfriend! You shouldn't even be looking at other girls! I knew it! I knew you were cheating on me with her! I saw the way you looked at each other the first day she came here and I found her rubbing you! Now you look at her ass!" She shouts, no doubt getting red in her pasty face.

"At least she _has_ an ass." He mumbles, not needing to turn around to see the hysterical look she was currently sporting. "We're _done, _Oliver!" She only used his last name when she was extremely pissed off. She gets up in a hurry, but not before she dumped her salad on his lap.

_Done and done. _He thinks. He's a little surprised that he can't even bring himself to care that his two year relationship is finally over, but hey, he's Beck, when has he ever really cared about anything in the first place? _When you met Tori._ He internally winces. Whatever. He realizes that the table is still staring at him after a while. "What?" He asks aloud.

"'_What?_' Dude, you can't seriously say 'what' right now. You totally just got dumped and now you smilin' like an idiot. And not to mention you creepin' on Vega! What's up with that?" He figures Andre would be the one to defend Tori, and he's not disappointed. Dude was obviously into her.

He takes a look at Cat's confused face, Robbie's (and Rex's) shocked face, Andre's disgusted face, and finally, Tori's incredulous face with a blush coloring her cheeks, betraying her embarrassment. He smiles and winks at her before getting up and leaving the table, brushing leaves of salad off of him while he went, his last thought being, _thank god Jade doesn't like dressing._

**Kaboom. The Jade-myster explodes. I know it might seem a little sudden to have them break up in the second chapter, but obviously Beck has some built up resentment towards Jade. And whatever I never liked Jade to begin with. If you couldn't tell. ;) Sadly, this is not the complete end of Jade and Beck... I know, _gross_, right? But they still need to sort shit out, and I can't just have Bori get together in the third chapter or whatever. Where's the drama in that, bro? Anyways, I promise this will be Bori all the way. Just be patient. :)** **chapter 3 out soooon**!

And thank you to freaklikepenny, CLlover, and XxcoupleMseddiexX for reviewing and anyone who put this on alerts/favorites. I love you for that C:


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Yep. Not mine. Never will be.**

Chapter 3

He decides to skip for the rest of the day, but he realizes he forgot a few things in his locker so he goes back inside to grab them. As he spins the dial to the last number in his combination, he overhears two people talking in hushed tones around the corner by the stairs. Not being one to eavesdrop, he finishes up at his locker and is about to shut the door and leave when he hears his name. Well, this could be interesting.

He inches closer to the wall, being careful not to make a sound or show his face. He peeks from out of the corner and sees Tori and Andre in a heated argument by the front door. He strains to hear what they're saying.

"Look, Tor, I know how you feel about him and everything but you can't seriously be buying this shit. He's just trying to make Jade jealous and they'll be back together before you know it. You'll always be second best, and you know that. Beck's just trying to charm you because he's bored. He doesn't care about you, not in that way." Andre finishes with an upset look on his face.

Beck is angry. He is beyond angry. He is livid. How could Andre be feeding Tori these lies? He wants to jump out and make a scene to defend himself but he knows it probably isn't the best idea to go apeshit without thinking. And, plus, he wants to hear what Tori says.

Tori sighs. "I know… but… it's nice to think that maybe, just maybe, he feels the same way I do." She finishes quietly, looking down at her feet.

His pulse quickens. Does she really see him that way? He's much too happy about that for his own good. But then she just agreed with Andre. He needs to make it right. To let her know that everything Andre is saying is wrong.

He doesn't know when it changed for him. He doesn't know when he accepted it, his feelings. He doesn't even know when they started. But then he backtracks because he won't pretend on this one. He knows it was the very first time he met her in Sikowitz's class. When he made eye contact with her that day and kissed her the next and felt that spark and he just _knew._ All he knows now is that he wants this girl. She should be his. And he doesn't even care how cheesy that sounds.

He's about to step out from behind the wall and make his presence known but then Andre is taking a step towards her and brushing a lock of hair behind her ear and suddenly the mood shifts and Andre gives her this _look _and everything is just so _wrong _with this situation and Beck wants to explode from his hiding spot and punch Andre in the face and kiss her senseless and just _claim _her but he finds he's rooted to the spot even though everything in him is screaming in protest but his body just won't cooperate.

His heart sinks because somehow behind all of the rage in his mind, he somehow knows that this is supposed to happen, that this is some event woven into the threads of time in the universe that is supposed to transpire and it could either make or break everything. And he feels like he's supposed to see it, but he doesn't want to just _sit_ here and witness his own heart break, because that's really the only way it could go. Tori and Andre were just so… complimentary of each other and they got each other and they're best friends and how could she _not _fall in love with the keyboard player?

Andre's lips fall on Tori's and he feels sick. He narrows his eyes and he clenches his fists and he _doesn't want to fucking watch this _but knows he has to. It lasts about four seconds before Tori pulls away sharply and lets out an exasperated _"What were you thinking, Andre?"_ as she steps away.

Well, this is definitely not what he expected to happen.

The dark skinned boy fumbles for words because he clearly wasn't on the same page she was.

"I, I was thinking…w-we had something…?" He finishes lamely. He looks around nervously and for a second his eyes flicker over to where Beck is and Beck realizes that he wasn't as well-concealed as he thought, as in his rage somehow he made it to where he was halfway out in plain view. He prepares himself to be revealed, but Andre looks away back to Tori and lets her continue. Beck doesn't know whether to be thankful or disappointed.

"Andre… I love you. You know that. But… but you're my best friend. You're like a brother to me. I don't see you that way. It's…It's always going to be him. I'm _in _love with him." She trails off.

Andre gives a lightning quick glance in his direction before looking back at Tori.

"So…you love Beck?" He asks for clarification.

And in the three seconds it took for her to answer, Beck's entire world shifted its focus and suddenly his entire being depended on the next words she would speak.

"Yes." She whispered.

Andre nodded soberly and gathered himself to say his next few words.

"Alright… I get it. We're still cool, Tor. But just know, I think you're making a mistake. He's gonna hurt you." And then he turns to give Beck a hard stare and then stalks off in the other direction.

Tori sits on the low steps and sighs, putting her head in her hands.

He emerges from the corner and takes a step towards her.

Her head snaps up and her beautiful brown eyes widen.

"B-Beck? What're you doing here?"

He opens his mouth to say something, _anything_. He wants to take her in his arms and confess his undying love to her or some stupid shit like that. But for some reason, some tiny nagging reason in the back of his mind, he knows he can't do that just yet. And he knows he probably shouldn't let her know what he just overheard, no matter how happy that it makes him inside.

And dude, if it doesn't hurt like hell when he puts on a blank face and shakes his head and tells her as emotionlessly as he can, "Uh, nothing. I gotta go."

She looks like she's about to protest, but she must have heard something in his voice to make her stop.

_I'm sorry, Tori. _He thinks as he walks away, and out the front doors of Hollywood Arts.

Since when did his life turn into a freaking soap opera? He shakes his head, gets in his car, and pulls out of the school parking lot as fast as he possibly could go.

**Now I know what you're thinking. You're probably like 'what the hell is this.' But I assure you, I have a reason for my madness. I'm sorry if this totally sucks ass. But, whatever. :)**

**Special thanks to NaturalArtificialFruit, AshestoAshes,** **XxcoupleMseddiexX, myjumpingsocks, xBettiolx13, animeroxz, and that one anonymous person for reviewing and also huge thanks to anyone who put this story on their favorites and/or alerts. This is for all for you guys :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: No. Just no.**

**Chapter 4**

He drives and drives until he finds himself at the beach, one of his favorite places to go and think. He pulls up to a stop on the sand and gets out to sit on the hood of his car.

He always liked to just watch the ocean. Especially at sunrise. He loved to see the waves and the jumping fish and to imagine all of the life teaming just below the surface. But as it was midday right now, so he settled for sitting in the hot sun and people watching.

There weren't that many people on the beach that afternoon, so he quickly gave that up after watching a fat guy try to put suntan lotion on his big, hairy back for about 45 minutes. He grimaced and turned back toward the water. And now he was alone with his thoughts.

What the hell was wrong with him? Tori was a great girl and he was obviously so very much into her. So why did he stand there like a douchebag ignoring the hopeful look that was on her face and act like he couldn't care less about her aside from checking her out like a cheap piece of meat? She deserved so much better than that. So much better than him. Maybe Andre was right. Maybe he would just end up hurting her. He really didn't want to, but he had the problem of pushing people away. His dad for one, and he tried to push Jade away but Jade had the problem of inserting herself where she wasn't wanted, and maybe that's why they worked out so well (horribly).

He gave that girl two good years of his life, and what did he have to show for it? She insulted him all the time, constantly grated on his nerves, and she clearly didn't care for him that much. He guesses there was a time in his relationship where it was fine. Good, even. Before it all went to crap. But he honestly can't really even remember that. And that's kind of sad, he thinks.

He wants to remember when he didn't completely despise the girl. But it's hard.

He guesses he should give her more credit. Obviously there was _something _about her that he found intriguing enough to want to stay with her for so long. And immediately it comes to his mind.

She pushed him. Constantly. She called him on his crap. Always. She was blunt. Extremely. She told him the truth, even when he didn't want to hear it. She was very much twisted for no good reason. She had a decent life with parents that were around. Sure, her dad didn't agree with her lifestyle, but hey, neither did his dad. And he guesses they identified on that level to some degree. _I mean, I live in a trailer, for god's sake._ He sort of even got together with her as a sort of 'screw you' to the old man. Jade was exactly the type of girl that his parents didn't approve of. And at the time he was all about rebelling, so when he brought Jade home, it was the last straw with his dad.

He didn't love Jade anymore- that much was for sure. He doesn't know if he ever did, as cruel as that sounded. He rethinks that. He guesses he did love her for a while at the beginning. In any case, he feels it should have ended on a better note. He feels, and this thought almost makes him sick, he feels as if their time together wasn't completely over.

He had an intuition for this type of thing.

He doesn't _want _to get back together with her. He really doesn't. But he might have to. It's just the way that they are. Being alone sucks. And they are each others' placeholder. It's sort of unspoken agreement that they are just using each other. They are using each other for the other's company.

But then there's Tori. Beautiful, wonderful Tori. If there's anything in his life that he is sure of, it's that the sun sets and he wants Tori Vega. But he knows he can't have her. And that sucks some major ass. She deserves someone that is worthy of her. Someone that her parents would love and someone that is going places and someone that gets her and someone that is content to be a friend when she needs one. Someone like Andre. And that thought kills him. Andre deserves Tori so much more than he does.

He remembers a time when he and Andre were pretty close friends. They'd hang out and chill from time to time and it was just so easy with him. Andre was one of those people where friendship is effortless. But then Vega comes to school and she's like a magnet. Andre immediately was infatuated with her and gladly took up the spot as her best friend if that guaranteed time with her alone. And he and Andre grew apart. Yes, they al still hung out but he knows it's because of Tori. She's the glue that holds the group together.

Because, that first day that he met her, he looked in her eyes, and he seriously didn't care that she just ruined his favorite shirt with coffee. He remembers just being like _wow._ This chick is for real.

He literally wants her so bad that it hurts. But Beck knows you can't always get what you want. There are like a million stupid songs about that. Goddammit. Why couldn't he just choose the safe path at lunch? The one where he denies everything and pretty much ignores Tori's existence and stays with Jade.

Because he knows he couldn't do that. Ignore her, that is. Or stay with Jade. Because maybe he loves her back. Yes, he sighs, Beck loves Tori back.

But he's never going to have her. So he might as well get used to ignoring his feelings.

He curses himself. Since when did he turn into such a fucking girl? It kind of pisses him off. He lies back on his car and watches the horizon. He stays there for hours, trying not to think. He He stays there until sunset. He watches people pack up their beach stuff and go home. He watches fat guy bumble around for a while and lug his lawn chair to his truck. He watches the lone towel on the sand that someone forgot to pack up. He watches the big fiery ball of orange and pink and red and yellow fire in the sky dip below the blue sea. If he were more poetic, he'd be smoking a cigarette or something and comparing sunsets to life and change.

But as it turns out, he hates smoking and he's had enough of analyzing his own pathetic life.

The sun set. And he wants Tori. The two constants.

He gets back in his car and drives home slowly. He pays extra attention to the road just so he doesn't have time to think about anything else. He's pretty hungry, because he made a royal mess of his lunch today so he drives through some fast food joint he remembers going to as a kid with his family and eats his greasy burger in the parking lot of the rundown place. He's still slurping down the rest of his milkshake as he turns down his street. He doesn't notice a familiar car parked a few houses down from his. He turns into his driveway, seeing someone standing by his trailer. He can't quite make out who it was because of his headlights. He cuts the engine and gets out of his car, locking it up.

He turns the empty paper to-go cup in his hand around and around and furrows his brow as a familiar redhead came bouncing over. "Cat?" He asks, confusion evident in his tone. "What are you doing here?"

For once, the usually bubbly girl looked around nervously before she said as quiet as she could, "I'm here for Jade."

Well, fuck. He just can't win.

**Haha. Beck's a beach creepster. Checkin' out hairy men. Lolz. I kid. This chapter was sort of lame and on the short side, but I needed little Beckett to think things over and set up for next chapter. **

**Next up: Beck and Cat have a very interesting talk. The next few chapters will be a little angst-ridden and dramatic and such, but hey, they're teenagers. Everything is the end of the world. On a side note, I have big plans in store for Lil' B over here. It will take some time for Beck to come to senses about Tor-Tor but I assure you lovelies, this is a Bori.  
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And finally,

THANKS A BUNCHES TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED LAST CHAPTER AND ALL THE STORY ALERTS/FAVORITES. I LOVE YOU ALL :) 3


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Why do I even write these anymore? I don't own Victorious. Seriously.**

**Chapter 5**

He exhaled deeply. He was in no mood for this and just wanted to go to sleep. "What did she send you for?" Beck sighed as he made his way to the trailer, unlocking it and gesturing her inside. He let the door swing closed behind them. He wondered what was up with Cat, as she normally is so bright and hyper and bubbly and happyhappy_happy_ but she was being uncharacteristically quiet and nervous. It was kind of freaking him out.

"She feels…bad for what she said earlier." Cat seemed almost reluctant to continue, looking like she was choosing her words carefully. "And she wants to know if you'd consider… getting back with her." She looked down at her feet. He could tell, for whatever reason, that this was hard for her to say.

Beck furrowed my brows. "Why can't she just tell me all of this herself?" He moved to sit down on his small bed after he dropped his keys on the bedside table, threw away his trash, and took his jacket off. He noticed she still hadn't moved from her spot by the door and was still staring at the floor and had one hand wrapped around her elbow and the other across her chest. It struck him just how much Cat looked, and behaved, like a child. It was like she was trying to stay a kid. He wonders for a second why this is, but doesn't need to worry about her problems, too.

He's intensely studying her, wondering why she's acting so out of character all of a sudden. He forgets his previous question as he stands up and takes half a step in her general direction. He could sense from the minute he recognized that it was her on his drive that something was off. She was clearly troubled by something. All of a sudden he gets a strange urge to figure out what it was. Not worrying about other people's problems be damned.

"Cat?" He starts, not knowing quite how to begin. He settles for easing his way into it. "We're friends, right?" He asks.

She still hadn't looked up from the carpet but answers him in a small voice. "Yes."

"So, as the friends that we are, we should be able to tell each other if something were wrong, right?" He asks firmly, not wanting to scare her, but also wanting some answers.

"Yes." She manages.

He can see her resolve growing weaker. "So, if something were bothering you, you could totally tell me." He states. He doesn't know why he's so fascinated with this. Maybe because it distracts him from thinking about his own problems.

Suddenly, she snaps her head up to look him right in the eyes. He's surprised, yet not at the same time to see them glassy with unshed tears. He was never that good at reading peoples' emotions through their eyes but for some reason he can just see the hurt and pain in Cat's stare plain as day. It occurs to him that that's because she wasn't trying to hide it. He mentally shakes his head at how dramatic this all was.

She seemed to pull herself together and gather her strength to say her next few sentences. "Beck… you should get back together with Jade. You guys aren't over. You...you need to be together right now. It's best for everyone. I know you probably don't understand but just trust me. Please. Get Jade back. She needs you." Cat seemed to almost beg him to take her back. She's right, he doesn't understand. Not one bit.

"Cat, what are you talking about? I don't want to get back with her." He says this, sure of it now. And as the words come out of his mouth, a lone tear comes rolling out of her eye.

"No, please. You don't understand. You have to be with her, you just _have _to!" She pleaded with him, hysterical and if he was lost before, he was beyond confused now. _What the hell is going on?_

He takes another step towards her and is now determined to figure this out. "Cat, listen to me. You need to just tell me what this is really about and why you're so upset." He doesn't like it when girls cry, and he's so super confused and needed her to clear this up for him, and her turning into a puddle of sad wasn't going to make it any easier for either of them.

She wipes her face and puts on such a bright smile that it must hurt her cheeks. But for some reason he can't explain, it hurts him to see just how fake it is. It makes him wonder for a second if all of her smiles are this forced.

"No. Don't do that, Cat. Don't shut me out. Don't pretend you're happy." He is legitimately worried about her now. Sure, he was never super close friends with her, but they were friends regardless, and he wasn't just going to let her be this clearly upset about whatever the hell it was that she was upset about.

Her bright smile falters and he takes so much pity on her for a second, it's scary.

She shakes her head and closes her eyes tightly. Just as he's about to say something, she speaks up, if not a little weak. "I can't explain it to you Beck. You wouldn't get it."

He takes a moment of silence to gather the words that are jumbled around in his frazzled mind. He's still confused as hell, because she's not making a lick of sense. He decides to just tell her what's on his mind. "Look, Cat, I still don't exactly know why you came here. But I just know this: I _don't_ want to get back together with Jade. But, I will admit that I probably should see her and work things out. But whatever it is that you are hiding, bottling up inside, it's not healthy. And I know we haven't always been the best of friends, but I don't like seeing you hurt, Cat. And I don't like seeing you pretend to be happy, and if that's how it is all of the time, it really doesn't have to be like that. You deserve to be truly happy, Cat." He finishes, letting out a breath, and remaining a calm exterior. He's kind of embarrassed that he sounded like a clichéd tool after she doesn't say anything for almost a whole minute.

She smiles after a while and he lets out a breath. This time, it's a genuine one. "Thank you, Beck." She surprises him by rushing forward and wrapping her tiny arms around his waist, and burying her head in his chest. "You should be happy too. And we both know who would make that happen_._" She speaks so quietly he almost doesn't hear her. But he instantly gets who she is referring to, and it's not his moody ex-girlfriend. He gulps noisily and stiffens, not wanting to think of all of that anymore tonight.

He awkwardly pats her on the back for a second before she draws back and turns for the door. He stops her by putting a hand on her shoulder. He hesitates for a second, thinking it over. "Anytime you need to talk, I'm here." He doesn't know _why_ he says it, but it feels right. This girl needs a friend.

She just nods and backs away, stopping as she reaches the trailer door. She smiles and looks up at him. "This could be the start of a beautiful friendship, Becky." She giggles like her usual self and is out the door in a flash.

He runs his hands through his dark hair and exhales. She's an odd one. He sits on the bed, unlacing his boots and kicks them off, wondering how exactly he got promoted up to Cat's go-to man. He lays back on his bed, covering his eyes with his arm completely exhausted. _What a day_, he thinks, and he doesn't even have the energy to change out of his school clothes.

He dreams of red that night.

**A/N: Well there you have it. I decided to squeeze this chapter out because Jersey Shore put me in a good mood. Ahhh, guidos make me laugh. Not much Bori angst this chapter, but that's because I wanted little Cat to get her big break, so to speak. Obviously, Kitty has some serious problems she's wrestling with, and it seems lil' B just might be the friend she needs for that. But that's all they are. Friends. Also, she was super OOC this chapter but for good reason. She's hinting at certain things that probably don't make much sense to you all but you'll see in the future. :) So yeahhhh. Next chapter will be comparatively longer. Also, we get a glimpse into Beck's homelife, and also quite possibly a certain moody bitch has a few surprises up her sleeve for lil B. Not like, she breaks into his house and gives him a striptease or anything. Ew. Nothing like that. That'd just be... No. GROSS! VISUALS! **

**...  
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I'm weird and tripping on red bull. Anyways, as always, a million hugs and kisses for the reviews and alerts and favorites. You make me extremely happy.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own Victorious. (Just kidding.)**

**Chapter 6**

Beck wakes up with a crick in his neck and the sun beating down at a terrible angle right into his eyes. He looks at the clock by his bed and it reads 10:55am. _Fuck. I'm late for school!_ He scrambles to get up, get off his bed, but somehow he had gotten himself tangled in the sheets and ended up pretty much with a mouthful of carpet.

"Aw…Jesus…" He mutters to himself as he extracts himself from the blasted sheets and pushes himself to a sitting position. He takes a minute for him to get his bearings and realize that today, was in fact, Saturday. He groans and rests his head on the side of his bed and rubs his elbow, he was sure to have a bruise. He's somewhat rested, as last night's sleep was deep enough and he went to bed super early. He yawns anyways.

Eventually he pulls himself to a standing position and looks around his trailer. He should probably clean it up a bit, the place was pretty rank. He doesn't know how Cat stood it last night.

Cat. He wonders how she is, and then wonders why he cares. He shrugs it off.

He fishes around for something clean to wear and realizes he's pretty much out of wearable clothes and Poptarts and so he sighs as he realizes he needs to go in the house for reinforcements. He catches a whiff of himself and decides a shower is probably in his best interests, too.

So that's how Beck finds himself sporting a laundry basket under his arm banging on his kitchen door because his family seems to like to forget that he lives on the property, too. He hears shuffling and eventually the lock slides open. Finally.

He pushes open the door and sees his whole family in the kitchen finishing their breakfast. _Well, gee, thanks guys._ His mother smiles at him, his sister makes a comment on how ragged he looks (which he ignores) and his father doesn't even look up from the paper he was reading. Typical.

"Beck! Please, get a plate, honey. We've already had our fill." His mother offers him.

Beck looks at his father who still hasn't acknowledged him and sighs. "I have laundry to do." Lame cop-out.

His mom looks nonplussed. "I'll take care of that for you." She says as she moves to grab his basket and is already on her way to the laundry room before he could protest.

"But…" He begins to think of an excuse but decides ten minutes with his 'family' won't kill him. He sits down at his old spot at the table and loads a plate up with French toast, eggs, bacon, and fruit. Stale Poptarts be damned.

He eats in silence until his mother comes back into the room empty handed. "Should be ready in about an hour." She smiles and sits, sipping her coffee.

He loves his mother. He does. She likes to please everyone, which doesn't work out too well for him when he and his father disagree. His mother usually tries to stay neutral but eventually ends up siding with his father every damn time. Marriage does crazy things to people. _Yeah, it fucks 'em up. _

He looks over at his older sister. She was alright. When she wasn't talking. She was two years older than him and should have been in college already, but was taking a year off to 'find herself.' Beck called bullshit on that one as soon as he heard it. She just wanted to stay home and party. But of course, she can do no wrong in their dad's eyes. If Beck even tried that one, he would've been kicked out and shipped off to military school. Oh, military school. His dad threatened him with that one a lot. When he spoke to him.

Lately, his dad had just resorted to not speaking to Beck when he could help it. He didn't understand why he wanted to go to Hollywood Arts or why he couldn't be the perfect son in the perfect all-American family or why he didn't want to just be a doctor, or a lawyer, like him.

His mom broke him out of his reverie. "Beck, dear. How's Jade?" At least his mother tried to make an effort when he came for these occasional meals with his family which was only when he needed something in the house. Usually he tried to sneak in for showers and stuff when he knew they weren't all gathered somewhere and he kept up a steady diet of junk food and fast food garbage. But there was the occasional time when he happened to stumble upon a happy family moment.

"We broke up." He says simply, taking a sip from the juice his mother poured for him. No need to go into the gory details. This seems to get his father's attention because Beck could tell he was no longer reading the newspaper, just staring at it and listening to the conversation.

"But, why?" His mother asks, trying to seem concerned but he knew she was happy in the inside. Well, hey, so was he.

He shrugs nonchalantly.

"Is there someone else you have your eye on?" She asks innocently.

He stops chewing for a moment. _Funny you should mention that._ His mother must have picked up on his hesitation, because she probed on.

"What's her name?" She is genuinely curious now.

_Tori Vega. _"Nobody. Mom, I'm not interested in anyone right now." This sounds fake even to his own ears. His sister snorts and he doesn't pay her any attention. He sees his dad shake his head.

His mom gives him an 'oh please' look. But he doesn't budge so she gives up, not without a "mhmmm, right."

His father says something for the first time. "Well, he shouldn't spend all of his time worrying about girls, anyways, Carol. He should be focusing on—" He stops for a minute and Beck knew he was going to say 'school' until he remembered that he hated Beck's school (and Beck's ambitions for that matter). "—other things." He finishes up lamely.

Beck rolls his eyes and stands up in a hurry. He's had enough of this conversation and these people. "Well, thanks for the food mom." He doesn't look at their faces as he makes his way up the stairs to his old room. He shuts the door behind him and lets out a breath. He could only be around them for so long before he suffocated. He roots through his drawers, hoping he has some clothes left over in here. He's surprised when he opens a drawer and sees a bunch of clothes that he was missing now folded and clean and put away. He's confused for a sec, like _what kind of paranormal activity shit is going on, _until it occurs to him that his mom probably did it the last time he needed his clothes washed. His heart goes out to her for a second. She'd never stop hoping that he would make up with his dad. But that would never happen. They were just too different. (Alike.)

He grabs a shirt and jeans and boxers and steps into his bathroom, locking the door behind him. He looks at his reflection in the mirror and sighs.

Thirty minutes later he's freshly showered and gathering up the clothes in his drawers and his freshly washed load from the dryer to head back to his trailer. He stops to grab a couple of bags of chips and a pack of soda (and a few beers). A guy's gotta eat.

He slips back out the kitchen door without being seen.

After Beck puts away his clothes and straightens up his trailer he is out of meaningless tasks to distract himself with. He had some serious shit to figure out. But he realizes he can't really do much else until he talks to Jade. So, he grabs his keys, steels his nerves, and makes his way over to her house.

* * *

><p>Surprisingly, he hasn't been to Jade's all that often. He'd only been inside about three times and he mostly had just picked her up when they went out. They usually just stuck around his trailer when they were together, anyway. She lived in a nice enough neighborhood. It occurs to him that he probably should have called first or something as he pulls up to her house but, oh well. He puts his game face on and walks up to her front door.<p>

He knocks three times and silently hopes no one answers.

He waits about four minutes and is about to rejoice in his stroke of luck and walk away, but then she opens the door. Damn.

"Beck?" She squints, as if she can't really tell it's him. "Come in…" She steps aside to let him pass by.

"Are your parents home?" He asks, just kind of because he needed something to say.

"No," She grunts as she steps into the living room. "Sit down," She orders as she retires to the armchair.

He chooses the couch across from her and for a second she's silent and finally he gets a good look at her.

She looks, to be quite honest, pretty terrible. Her hair isn't brushed, she has no makeup on, her eyes are red and puffy like she'd been crying, (though he doesn't want to dwell on that) and she's in her old pajamas. This was so weird.

"So?" She says with a hard edge to her voice. Ahhh, there she is.

"I'm not here to get back together with you." He blurts. He went with the blunt approach, he guesses.

"I know." She sighs.

"You know?" He questions.

"Cat told me. Last night." She looks around nervously, as if this is broaching a bad subject.

"Oh, yeah. She said she came on your behalf. What was that about? She seemed really upset after I said I wouldn't get back with you." He figures if anyone knows why, it'd be Jade, because obviously they were together at some point last night.

"That's just Cat being Cat. She's weird." Jade says lamely.

"Bullshit."

She sighs again and begins to speak. "You don't need to know everything about everyone, _Beckett_. She went to talk to you last night for me because she thought it'd be better for… everyone if we were together again. Don't ask me why," _Because I'm not going to tell you._ He hears the rest of her sentence loud and clear even if she doesn't voice it.

He figures he'd find out eventually. "Well, I guess me and her are sort of friends now." He doesn't know why he tells this to Jade. He just kind of felt like she should know.

She looks surprised, and a little uncomfortable. "_Why?_"

"She needs a friend." He levels her with a stare.

She squirms. "We all need friends, Beck…"

He says nothing.

"I'm sorry." She says and it breaks the silence just as well as if she'd dropped a metal pot on a tile floor.

"_You're_ sorry? For what?" He asks incredulously. Jade didn't _apologize_. Like, ever. He feels like he should get this on tape or something.

"That shit I pulled at lunch yesterday. I probably shouldn'tve done that. It was... stupid." She says finally, breaking eye contact.

He is so shocked it's almost laughable. Jade was seriously apologizing and she seemed to mean it. This was surreal. In fact, this entire visit she'd been acting really out of the ordinary, sort of how Cat was acting really strangely last night. A random thought hits him. "Are you stoned right now?"

She just stares at him before breaking out into a fit of laughter. He joins her for a second as he notices how weird this situation is. Here, they are, laughing like old friends. But the smile slides off his face. They've never been friends. They probably never will be.

"She's not that bad, Oliver." She says unexpectedly after she calms down. There it was again, his last name. But she didn't seem angry, so he rethinks the whole using his last name only when she's pissed off thing.

"Who, Cat?" He knows Cat isn't that bad. At times she was a little overwhelming, but not completely unbearable.

"No. Not Cat. Vega."

He doesn't know what to say to this. So he says nothing and looks at the wall above her head.

"I think she'd be good for you." This girl was just full of surprises today.

He looks back at her and she has a blank face on, but he must have let something slip on his own, because her features visibly soften just the tiniest bit.

"I could see that you two were good together. From day one. That's why I treat her like shit. But… if you love her, I'll make an effort. For C—uh, you. For you." Beck was so baffled, he didn't even pay that much attention to her little slip up.

"I don't…" He weakly begins to protest his feelings but she stops him.

"Beck, I know you. Regardless of how our relationship was, I was still with you all the time for two years. I can read you so easily, you don't even know. And I know you love Vega. And that's okay. You need her." She finishes, and he gets a glimpse of why he fell in love with her all that time ago. She was real.

He realizes that his distaste for Jade had subsided substantially rather quickly. He didn't wanna jump her bones or anything, he was _way _over that, but he thinks, maybe one day, they could be acquaintances. Or something.

"She has Andre." Is the only thing he can think to say to her, as his head was spinning too quickly for him to focus.

"But she loves _you_." She says bluntly.

He doesn't protest because he heard it for himself. But somehow, hearing it from an outside party, especially one such as Jade, just makes it that much sweeter to him. He guesses if he can't have her, he at least has that little piece of knowledge. She loved him back, if only for a little while.

"Why are you being so…_not _Jade-like?" He asks, because he'd really rather change the subject.

She chuckles. "Don't get used to it."

He smiles.

After a few minutes of just staring at each other in semi-awkward, semi-comfortable silence, he stands up. "I should get going." She walks him to the door.

She opens it for him, but he hesitates for whatever reason.

"Don't take too long, Beck. Or you'll lose her."

He's standing there, next to her, trying to control the emotions that come bubbling to the surface. He exhales slowly and nods. When he's sure he won't betray anything he's feeling (although he knows it's futile, she knows him better than he ever gave her credit for) he looks over at her. This would be the time to hug if they were friends, or kiss if they were going out, but they are neither one so he mutters a "thanks Jade" and makes his way down her walkway. He stops to look up once more at her door when he reaches his car, sort of expecting her to be standing there watching him go or something, but he isn't really surprised to see the door closed and Jade nowhere in sight. He gets in the drivers seat and pulls away from her house. Yes, he may not detest her quite like he did before, and today he's seen a side of her she'd never showed him when they were dating, and she knows things about him he'd really rather she not, but he knows it was a one time thing. She'll go back to being bitchy Jade, his ex-girlfriend from hell in no time.

Even so, as he drove under the California sun, he couldn't keep her last few words from echoing in his mind.

_Don't take too long, Beck. Or you'll lose her._

_You'll lose her._

That thought hurts him more than it should.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Now that that's over... I can't decide whether I hate this chapter, or love it.** **Or like it a little. I don't know. I don't like the first part. Lame. But I kind of had fun writing Becko's talk with the Jademonster.** **Because, she has a point. She _does _really know him. Whether he likes it or not. And it'd make sense that she was a total bitch-a-roni to Tori. Because even she could see Bori was clearly the better couple. :) She's super OOC, but that's because shit went down the night before. Could she possibly be all upset for the same reason Cat is? Hmm.. I don't know... :) Chapter 7 we get some Robbie action. Maybe a little Rex, too. **

**You know the drill. Thank you so much for the feedback. But I just really want to say I didn't know what to expect posting this story on FF because I've never actually posted on this site. I'm just a creepster who reads FF religiously. But all the love I'm getting I do really appreciate. So much! Everytime I see an email saying I have a story alert/favorite or author alert/favorite or a review for this story it makes me super happy. It feel like I'm doing this for a purpose, ya dig? Alright. I'm done.  
><strong>

Stay perfect, lovelies.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious. I'm not banking off of anything. (Like, seriously, nothing. I need a job.)**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

He ends up at the beach again, but doesn't get out of his car. He doesn't really have anything to do today except for wallow in his self-pity, but whatever. He exhales and leans his head back on the headrest. _Don't take too long, Beck._ He doesn't know what to make of that. He knows Tori won't sit around forever; he never expected her to. He knows she'll get tired of waiting for him and move on to Andre or whomever else. _You'll lose her._ He knows that that's inevitable. But you can't lose something that was never really yours in the first place, so it shouldn't hurt that badly to watch her move on, right? Wrong. He knows it will hurt like hell to see her with someone else. But he also knows it's necessary. She should be happy with someone that is deserving of her. Because he sure as hell has done nothing in his lifetime to deserve a girl such as Tori.

He's not sure anyone would ever be good enough for her, but at least there's guys that are closer to it than he is. Andre, for example. He keeps going back to Andre getting Tori. But that's because it only makes sense. Sure, she pretty much rejected Andre's advances towards her but that's only because she _thought _she was in love with him. And he knows she probably wasn't. It was just a stage. She'd get over it.

But the sad thing is, he knows it won't be so easy for him to move on from her. Because, she was just _Tori. _You can't just overlook a girl like Tori. Tori was perfection personified. He grimaces at how girly he sounds again and vows that he seriously needs to stop with the Nicholas Spark's novel talk and watch some football or something. It's pretty lame.

He needs a distraction. He wants to hang out with someone, or at least talk to someone. He whips out his phone and scrolls through his contacts. Alyssa? Right. Andre? No. Too awkward. He keeps going. Cat? She might not want to talk to him just yet. And would she want to hang out with him? Are they that kind of friends? He doesn't know. Well, there's only one way to find out. He clicks on the little phone icon by her highlighted name and holds the phone up to his ear, waiting for her to answer. She doesn't. Alright, well Cat's out. He continues scrolling through his numbers. He doesn't even consider Jade and just keeps scrolling. He goes through half his phone book until he gets to the T's. Tara, Taylor, Tim, _Tori_. He stops on her name. He could do it. Call just to hear her voice. _What the hell, man. This isn't a tween movie. I'm not a thirteen year old girl with a crush. What is wrong with me? _He vetoes that idea and with a sigh keeps on scrolling. He sees Robbie's name just when he's getting desperate. Hmmm. There's an idea. He hadn't really talked to Robbie in a while. Maybe he'd hang out with him. He clicks on the talk button.

"Beck?" Robbie answers after three rings.

"Hey, Rob. What's up?" He didn't want to make it sound like this was his last resort. Except it kind of was. No wait, there was always Sinjin. He shakes his head. _I need more friends._

"Nothing. Me and Rex were just watching VH1." Robbie answers.

"I thought VH1 gave you nightmares."

"Yeah, but Rex likes it." Robbie replies. Beck hears Rex's voice next. "I'm trying to teach him not to be such a sissy." Rex says. "It isn't going well…" He whispers. "Rex!"

Beck shakes his head. Could he put up with this for an afternoon? "Well, that sounds like buckets of fun. Do you want to hang out with me? See a movie or something?"

"Sure, that sounds cool." Robbie replies.

"Alright well, I'll swing by to pick you up now."

"Okay! Let me just put some pants on…" Beck doesn't even want to know.

"…Okay. I'm on my way. Oh, and Rob? Don't bring Rex." Beck practically pleads.

"Why?" Robbie sounds offended.

"He just seems like the type to talk during the good parts." Beck rolls his eyes.

"That's true, he does do that! It gets pretty absurd." Robbie answers and Beck has to laugh. _It's absurd that your _puppet _talks during movies?_

He shakes his head. "I'm coming. Be ready." He hangs up and starts for Robbie's house.

* * *

><p>"What does this do?" Robbie asks as he fiddles with another button on Beck's stereo.<p>

"Don't touch." Beck monotones for like, the seventh time.

Robbie huffs and gives up.

Just when Beck thinks he's gonna get some peace and quiet, for a second, Robbie speaks again.

"Beck?"

"What?"

"Can we get popcorn?"

"Yes."

"Should I buy my own ticket?"

"Yes, Robbie. This isn't like a date."

Awkward silence.

"Beck?"

"What, Robbie?" Beck is already worn out, and they aren't even at the movie theater yet.

"Why'd you invite me along?"

"Because…we're friends, Shapiro. Friends hang out." Beck says, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. He expects some kind of comment but Robbie remains quiet for the majority of the rest of the ride, only speaking when he criticized Beck's driving. He tunes him out. Robbie _would_ be a backseat driver.

They reach the theater _finally_, and thankfully it's not that crowded. They buy tickets to some lame action movie with some washed up actor and make their way inside.

After spending fifteen excruciating minutes at the snack counter, Robbie finally decides on a small popcorn and about ten dollars worth of candy and soda.

They miss the previews. The movie is rather uneventful, and Beck is just kind of glad to blank out his mind and focus on the cliché and predictable storyline. Robbie munches too loudly on the popcorn the whole time and Beck runs out of soda within the first thirty minutes. He didn't buy any candy. He rolls his eyes as Robbie eats all of his in one sitting and refused to share.

They make their way out of the theater two hours later and after Robbie takes the world's longest pee, they step outside and head for the car. They just kind of sit there and Robbie takes animatedly about the movie the whole time and Beck participates as much as he can.

When there's finally a lull in the conversation, he asks "Now what?"

"It's only four o'clock. We can do anything." The cliché slips by him and all he really wants to do is drop Robbie off and then go home and settle himself under the covers like a little kid, but he just starts driving aimlessly. They pass an arcade and a bunch of outlet malls and department stores.

He drives nowhere for about half an hour. They decided to get some pizza because Beck was starving; he hadn't eaten since breakfast and apparently Robbie was still hungry, though Beck didn't know _how _after eating so much junk at the movies. Whatever.

So, there they are sitting in a booth at some local pizza place he remembers in an unfamiliar neighborhood that was pretty rundown, matching the other decrepit buildings in the questionable area, but still good nonetheless. One of those diamond in the rough places. Beck doesn't know why he remembers this place, he's not even sure when or why he came here but all he knows is that it's good. He must have come here as a kid, too. Repressed memory, he guesses.

Robbie breaks the silence they had obtained while eating.

"So, what was up with you at lunch yesterday?" He asks through a mouthful of cheese.

_Lunch._ He had almost forgotten about that, too… "What do you mean?" He plays dumb.

"Uhhh… you pretty much indirectly told everybody that you fantasize about Tori." Robbie gives him this look. He seemed to be getting a lot of those lately.

He laughs. He actually laughs. "I did not." _Even though I do. _He chuckles some more at the thought.

"Right… What's up with you and her, anyways?" Rob asks as he takes another bite.

Beck sips his lemonade just for something to do. What is up with them? _Nothing._ He frowns. "Nothing." It was the truth.

Robbie looks like he's about to call bullshit. "Seriously, there can't be _nothing _going on with you guys. It's _Tori_, for goddsake. Do you see the way you two look at each other? I mean, why else would she have gone beet red at lunch? Like, I've never even _seen _Tori blush. She was way past blushing by the time you got up and left. She literally _fled_ right after you did. And, of course, Andre followed her." He says all of this between the last bites of his pizza and was now nibbling on the crust.

Becks says nothing so Robbie takes that as his cue to continue. "Me and Cat just sat there like, _what the heck._ It was so weird. I think everyone went insane yesterday. Rex thinks it's the aliens' faults."

Beck raises his eyebrows. "_Rex _watches too much sci-fi."

Robbie shrugs. "We all have our afflictions."

He wipes his mouth with his crumpled up napkin, throwing it off to the side. "And what's yours, Robbie?" He decides to turn the tables.

"Huh?"

"What's your thing? Your problem, habit, secret, issue, whatever. What is it?"

He just looks at him. "I'd think you'd know that by now."

He blinks. "Rex?"

He just looks away.

"Can I ask you something personal, Rob?"

"Why not."

"Why do you…_utilize_ Rex so much?" He didn't know how to word it. And he really feels like it isn't his place to be asking this. And it's awkwardly serious now.

"Because he's Rex. Everybody likes Rex." Robbie says, as if it's obvious.

He changes the subject after he gives that some thought. "So… me and Jade are through."

"Duh. I know. We were all there." Robbie looks at him like he's stupid.

"No, like, for real. We talked it through and everything. She's fine with it." He explains himself.

"Sure she is. You'll be back together in a week."

"O, ye of little faith. Have you met the girl? I'm done with that."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

* * *

><p>They finish up and step outside.<p>

"Where to?" Beck asks.

"Home, I guess." Robbie says, and they get back in the car.

Beck pulls away from the curb.

"WAIT!" Robbie screams and Beck slams on the breaks so fast, he's surprised they didn't go through the windshield.

"WHAT?"

"Put your seatbelt on!"

He looks at Robbie as if he'd grown another head on his shoulder and just told Beck he eats babies for breakfast.

"Dude, NEVER scare me like that again. Or, I'll push you out the car on the highway." He threatens, but complies.

He gets to Robbie's house in no time, Robbie nitpicking his driving the whole time.

"So… today was fun."

"Yeah." Beck grunts.

Silence.

"Uhhh… I guess I'll see you at school, then." Robbie says as he opens the door and steps out of the car.

"'Bye, Rob." He says as he watches Robbie make his way to the front door and wave at Beck as he pulls away. He rolls his eyes but gives him a little salute.

_That wasn't that bad_, he thinks. Robbie was actually pretty okay when he wasn't insulting himself with his own hand or screaming at Beck from the passenger seat.

It was around dinner time when he got home, and he wasn't hungry anyways so he retires to sitting on his ass and watching TV for the rest of the weekend until his brain rotted. His thoughts don't escape him for long though. Obviously, he wasn't doing a very good job at hiding his feelings for Tori if Cat, Jade, _and_ Robbie all brought it up in their own ways.

He scoffs. And he thought he was a good actor.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'll be the first to say that I don't exactly know what I'm doing in regards to writing Robbies (and Rex's) character(s). So, again, I apologize if he's OOC. I tried to keep him as his quirky, lame self and away from swearing. I wouldn't think Rob swears. So, sorry if I majorly sucked at it. I know it's taking a little bit to get to the Bori action. But I gotta get some plot in there. And plus, it wouldn't be a very good story if Beck was all "Jade I'm breaking up with you. Tori, let's get married!" Though it'd be cool if he did. ;) alright. **

**P.S. Anyone catch Alyssa Vaughn in Beck's contacts? and Tara, one of the girls from 'Freak the Freak Out'. I was thinking of T-names and I just couldn't resist. We'll just assume Beck got some digits at Karaoke-dokie. ;] (However you spell that monstrosity.) or, if that squicks you, just pretend it's another Tara.  
><strong>

_*_**chapter 8: maybe a phone call with our two favorite people, and a scene in sikowitz's class goes wrong. :D**

Thank you for all the love. I appreciate it beyond belief. Also, _**if you have any questions about the story or any plot predictions, feel free to PM me **_rather than leaving it in your review and I might just tickle your fancy. (Tell me that wasn't awkward...)

Deuces C:


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Carries over from every other chapter. In other words, lonely FF author earns no $$$. **

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

He spends all of the day Sunday doing absolutely nothing, dreading going to school the next day. He alternated between getting fat and watching TV for hours on end and creeping on people (namely Tori) on The Slap. He realizes just how, for lack of a better word, _creepy _he was being, pretty much stalking her profile. He gives that up quickly.

He didn't know what he was going to do when he saw her. Was he supposed to act differently? Would she? No, probably not. Should he ignore her? No. He should act normal. Like Friday didn't even happen. Yeah, that was better then being overly friendly or ignoring her like a douche. He was putting way too much thought into this. He's such a girl. He changes the channel from reality TV to Sports Center to reassure himself he's not as much of a chick as he had been acting lately. It works for about an hour, until he realizes golf was actually painfully boring to watch.

A thought hits him. He could always call her and sort things out beforehand so it wouldn't be awkward tomorrow. He bites his lip and considers it. _Why the hell not?_

He dials her number and his heart is beating so fast. She answers on the second ring.

"Hello?" She sounds tired.

He freezes. What was he even calling her for?

"Hellooo?" She snaps him back into reality.

"Tori…?" He manages.

"Beck?" She sounds surprised. He guesses she didn't check the caller ID.

"Uh, hey. I just was calling… to make sure we're still cool. We're still cool, right?" he asks, and he curses himself that he sounds way too hopeful. "I mean… can we forget Friday even happened?"

"Of course." She hesitates. "What was that, though? At least answer me that."

"What was what?"

"That _look _you gave me in the hall. Before you left," She inquires. "You looked like you wanted to say something."

Damn. She's more observant then he gives her credit for. "It was nothing…" He doesn't even convince himself.

"Okay…" She replies.

A short awkward silence ensues. Facepalm. Mission failed.

"Beck?" She begins.

"Yeah?"

"You didn't happen to like… _overhear_ anything, did you? Between me and Andre? In the hall?" She sounds worried.

"Um…" He's not sure what he should do. Let her know what he knows? Maybe even tell her how he feels? But, he knows that would make things more awkward. And set them both up with unrealistic expectations. Plus, that's so not a conversation for over the phone. So, he takes the lame way out. He seems to be doing that a lot as of late. "Why, were you spreading vicious rumors about me?" He teases, going for totally unsuspecting.

She laughs nervously. "As if I would tell you." At least she tries to pretend back.

He smiles. It was nice to talk to her, even under these circumstances.

"I have a weird question." She says.

"Go for it."

"Were you really… looking at my… you know… in class? Or did you just say that to make Jade upset?" He can tell this is so awkward for her to ask him.

He ponders for a minute. He could say he only did it to make Jade jealous, but that'd be a lie. And he figures, if he can't tell her how he really feels, he can at least give her this much. He laughs confidently. "Oh, yeah. I really was. Making Jade mad was just a bonus."

She giggles. "Well, uh. I don't know what to say to that. Thank you?"

"Not a problem! Anytime, Ms. Waters." He smiles fondly at the memory of that nickname.

She laughs a hearty laugh. "I can't believe you still call me that."

"I can't believe you caused Melinda Murray to get shot through the hand with an arrow." He grins.

"No one liked her anyway." Tori retorted.

"And you got me my roll back." He remembers. He's still amazed at the lengths that she went to get the roll back for him.

"Yeah, but I'm the reason you got fired in the first place. I'm sorry for that, again." She sounds guilty.

"Stop apologizing, again." He rolls his eyes and smiles.

It's quiet for a moment and he remembers the day he got his roll back. That was a good day. He specifically remembers the hug he and Tori shared in the hall before Jade interrupted. He remembers the way her body felt against his when he wrapped his arms around her waist, the smell of her hair…

"Beck? You still there?" He's grateful she snaps him out of his thoughts. He really shouldn't go down that road.

"Yeah, sorry. Just remembered something for a second," He tells her.

"It's okay." She pauses. "I'm glad you called." She blurts and sounds kind of embarrassed to have admitted that.

He smiles sadly. "I'm glad I called, too. I'm sorry for embarrassing you at lunch." He adds on as an afterthought when he remembers what Robbie said about her blushing.

"It's fine. I'm over it."

"Thanks to Andre." He sounds way too bitter about that for his liking.

"Um… I guess…" She sounds a little ashamed. Probably thinking about the kiss.

The kiss. He hadn't given that much thought and is thankful for that because he feels another pang of jealousy and he's sort of really, really pissed off about it. No one should kiss Tori… _but me, _he thinks.

There are a million questions he'd like to ask her_. What's up with you and Andre? Do you like him? Do you like anybody? Can I see you? Can I kiss you? Do you want to be my girlfriend? Can you come over? Will you stop being friends with Andre? Will you leave me alone so I can get over you? Why do I love you so damn much? Why do you think you love me? How long will this phase last? Should I ask you out before it ends and you're over it? Should I leave you alone? Will you forgive me when I inevitably fuck something up?_ There are also about a thousand and one things he'd like to say. But only one comes to mind.

"Well, I should get going." He says after a lull in the conversation. He's surprised his voice didn't shake.

"Okay." She sounds a little disappointed. "Well, bye Beck, I'll see you at school tomorrow." _I love you, Beck, _He imagines she'd say._  
><em>

"Bye."

She hangs up.

_I love you too, Tori, _He'd say back._  
><em>

He wants so badly for her to know it. To say it in person. He almost blurted it out for a second there. The good mood he had attained from talking to her deflated. He's bummed out, like, majorly.

He wants to be with Tori. That's all he really wants. He would fall off a building for her a million times in a purple dress if he had too. He already did it once. The corners of his mouth turn up.

He looks at the clock. 9:06. It's still way early to sleep, but he has nothing else to do but be haunted by his thoughts. Sleep is his only refuge. He didn't think he dreamt of her the night before, so maybe this night will follow suit.

He gets in bed and closes his eyes. He counts to a thousand before his lids finally get heavy.

He dreams of her anyways.

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><p>To say Beck woke up in a bad mood on Monday morning was an understatement. First, he overslept and had about ten minutes to get to school. Second, he couldn't find his shoes like, <em>anywhere<em> and because he was so pressed for time, he didn't have time to eat anything for breakfast. Third, he couldn't even stop for coffee. Fourth, he forgot to charge his phone the night before, so it was dead at home. Fifth, he pretty much had to speed to make it in time and almost got pulled over. Sixth, there was like, _no _parking spaces in the parking lot. He was about ready to punch anyone in the face if they so much as _looked _at him the wrong way, and he had a permanent scowl fixed on his face.

He makes it inside the school with two minutes to spare and doesn't answer any of the greetings he hears on his way to his first class. He doesn't want to deal with people. He just about catapults himself into his seat just as the bell rings to start first period.

It seemed like every class he went to from then on dragged out longer than usual just to piss him off. By the time he had to go to Sikowitz's class, he had officially resigned for the day and he decided that he was just not going to do anything in class, and if he absolutely had to, he was going to do it as terribly as possible. He plopped himself in a seat at the back and leaned his head on the wall to get some shut eye. The bell rings and Sikowitz begins talking but he doesn't budge. He must have looked pretty pissed off, even with his eyes closed, because he doesn't hear or feel anyone sit down next to him. Sikowitz's crazy voice was actually like a white noise to him. He's actually managed to snooze a little when suddenly he feels a gust of air and then, _whack! _

He shoots awake so fast, he falls out of his chair and sees everyone turned around looking at him, snickering. He's disoriented for like half a second and rubs his cheek where he got hit, when he sees the offending object on the floor next to him. It's the little rubber ball that Sikowitz liked to throw at people. He gets off his ass and settles back in his chair, clutching the ball, and glaring harshly at his insane teacher. Was that even legal?

"What's wrong, sour puss? Did I wake you from your slumber?" Sikowitz teases and a few people laugh. Mostly Jade.

"Dude… _not cool._ You couldn't have just like, called my name or something?" He knows he's probably getting irrationally upset, but he was already having a shittastic morning and getting smacked in the face by his acting teacher wasn't exactly the greatest addition.

"Ooooh! You're angry! I've got just the scene for you!" He makes a _come hither_ motion with his pointer finger.

He had already determined not to do anything productive, but he was pissed off and sitting in the back fuming wasn't going to do anything. He figures if he gets to yell, even if it won't be _him _doing it per se, it might help a little. Blow off some steam, all of that shit.

So he stands from the chair, rubber ball in hand, and makes his way to the front of the stage, feeling everyone's eyes following his every move.

Sikowitz hands him his script and he notices right away that it's meant for two people, and there is a lot of yelling involved.

"Choose your victim, Beck."

He looks at his teacher for a sec, seeing he had moved offstage, and then sweeps his eyes across the class room. Who was he mad at? Cat? No. He didn't want to yell at Cat. Robbie? No. Sinjin? That might be fun. There was always Jade. But then he figures people would assume things that weren't true, and he was done having confrontations with her. His eyes move to the first row. Tori? He locks eyes with her and considers it for half a second because that would mean he got to at least do a scene with her, but then he knows he didn't have the heart to scream at her. _God, she looks hot today. _Then he sees who she's sitting next to and his temper flares up again. Oh, yeah. He knew who he was going to pick.

Not removing his eyes from the boy, he says through gritted teeth, "Andre."

"Come on down, Mr. Harris!" Sikowitz announces.

He sees Andre freeze for a second, almost imperceptible to anyone who wasn't looking for it. He stands up, and slowly makes his way onstage after collecting his script. He reads through it and raises his eyebrows.

"Make this your own, gentlemen. I want to believe your anger! Go crazy!" Sikowitz pauses for the pair of them to nod, though they never took their eyes from one another. Beck tosses the rubber ball he still was holding back towards Sikowitz. This wouldn't be too hard. "…Aaaand… go!"

Andre looks down at the first line and begins the scene.

"Did you pick up my dry-cleaning?"

"Uh, no. I forgot, sorry," Beck replies, a little more harshly than was necessary at that moment.

"God, you just can't do anything right, can you?" Andre mocks.

"I'm your roommate, Sampson, not your mother!" Beck feels the animosity he has towards this guy in front of him bubble up towards the surface, so he tries to control it so he doesn't explode prematurely and ruin the scene.

"I ask you for one favor, and what to you do? You go out for donuts? And you didn't even bring me any?"

"I knew you didn't like jelly-filled. I was only eating the jelly-filled!" Beck shouts.

Andre's character makes a disgusted face.

"Don't you judge my taste in donuts! I am a grown man and I'll enjoy all the jelly-filled donuts that I want!" Beck's character cries.

"You looky here, Johnny, I'm doing you a favor by moving in here! I pay all the bills!" Andre-as-Sampson states.

"Now that's not true! I took care of the light bill that once!" Beck/Johnny shouts.

"It is so true! And you don't even have the decency to pick up some pastries for me. What kind of a friend are you?" Andre yells.

"I am a great friend to you, _buddy_!" Beck retorts.

"Really? Is that why I hear you have a thing for _my_ girlfriend?" Andre screams.

_Whoa._ Beck blinks.

"Last time I checked, she didn't love _you._" Beck sneers.

Andre fumes and narrows his eyes. "Like she would ever go for you. You're nothing!" He shouts.

Beck takes a step forward and points a finger at Andre. "Listen up, _friend._ You don't deserve a girl like her if this is how you treat your 'best' friend. You obviously know nothing about me, so don't tell me I'm nothing. I love her. You're pathetic," Beck growls, "Sampson." He spits the last part out when he remembers he's supposed to be acting.

Andre opens his mouth to retaliate when Sikowitz interrupts. "Scene! Please don't murder each other!" He laughs nervously.

They both snap their attention to the teacher and Beck realizes that through out the whole scene, he had crushed his script in his right fist and there was less then four inches space between him and Andre. He take a step back. Wow. That was…interesting, to say the least. He feels a tiny bit better.

He looks at everyone's faces but really only cares about one. She looks like a deer in the headlights, to say the least. The bell rings and the weird tension the room held sort of dissipated. People plowed out of the room, eager to get to lunch. It was quesadilla day, at least. There's a plus. Sikowitz bails just as quickly.

The three of them didn't move from their places.

Beck takes more one long look at her and pays no mind to Andre as he moves to the back of the room to collect his stuff and get the hell out of there. Had he stayed just a minute longer, he would have heard Andre ask Tori "You comin'?" and her reply off "Yeah, in a minute." He would have seen Andre walk off without her, but only after giving her one of those looks.

Had Beck stayed just a bit longer, he also would have seen Tori eventually unfreeze from her chair and walk up and grab the discarded script from the floor of the stage. He would have seen her unwrinkle it on her leg, read how the real half of the scene went, and furrow her brow as she saw that it was completely and totally unrelated to what he and Andre had just screamed at each other for in front of the class. Most of all, had Beck stuck around, he would have seen the wheels turning in Tori's head and the determined look she sported as she grabbed her bag and hurried to catch up with the rest of them.

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><p><strong>AN: First of all: Bam! Andre got told. Lololz. I feel kind of bad I'm making him a little douchey in this story, because I do like Andre. But, he's protective of Tori and all of that. Beck has to prove to him (and himself) that he deserves her. And I liked writing Bori's little phone call in the beginning. It was fun. & it seems Tor-Tor wasn't fooled by that scene. Aannyywayyss... **

_*CHAPTER 9: Awkward lunch, and making plans. ;) Bori action, coming soon. To a theater near you. (Just kidding.)_

As usual, all my love to the reviewers. And, favorites/alerts make me soooo soo happy as well. **You all keep me writing.**

**_**Questions, confusion, and/or lengthy predictions that you want me to answer: _**Send me a PM. I'd be happy to oblige.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious, or any of it's characters. I merely manipulate them for my own amusement.  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

Lunch was awkward, to say the least. Beck was kind of surprised when Jade sat down at the table next to Cat. No one really said anything until everyone was seated and even then it was just superficial conversation, the main participants being Cat and Robbie and Rex, and even Jade snuck in a few comments Cat's way, although Cat would mainly direct her chatter toward Robbie. Beck settled for studying Cat. She seemed really animated and into her conversation with Robbie, but when Jade would say something to her she'd get unnerved and politely smile and nod before looking away. She angled her body away from Jade and mainly tried to focus on talking with Robbie and being offended by Rex. She was all but completely ignoring Jade. Beck was baffled when he saw a discouraged look on Jade's face and the corners of her mouth turn down, but then she caught him staring and glared at him until he looked away. Andre was silent the whole time and focused intensely on eating his pasta from the Grub Truck. Beck glanced at Tori, who had sat next to him, and she had a look on her face as if she was deep in thought. She was sitting equal distance away from him and Andre this time.

He's hit with the sudden urge to spend time with her. He never really gets to talk with her or be alone. And maybe it'd be good for the both of them, he guesses. Especially after the shit Andre and he pulled in class. Thankfully, she was in the dark about how the last half of their scene between bickering roommates Johnny and Sampson was not acting, whatsoever. He remembers Saturday and how he considered calling her and hanging up after he heard her. _He's such a chick these days._ And then he remembers Cat never called him back when he tried to get in touch with her.

"Hey, Cat?" He interrupts whatever they were talking about and everyone looks at him because it's the first he's spoken.

"Yeah?" She smiles and he can't help but smile back.

"I called you Saturday morning and you never answered. Where were you?" He asks.

"Oh! I was with Tori." Cat smiles at the brunette next to him and Tori smiles back. Beck catches the glare Jade shoots her way and smirks when she realizes he caught her, again.

Cat then turns to him once more. "Yeah, we were having girl talk," She smiles devilishly, as if she knows something he doesn't.

He looks at Tori and is surprised to see her a little pink in the cheeks. _"Cat!" _She hisses._  
><em>

Cat giggles and looks at him, ignoring Tori. "What'd you need, anyways?"

"Oh, uh, I wanted to see if you wanted to hang out." He could tell Jade was trying to seem nonchalant but the tight grip she had on her water bottle didn't go unnoticed by him. He glances at Andre and he looks like he wants to say something. "But I hung out with Robbie instead." He doesn't like having to explain himself.

"We saw a movie." Robbie adds.

"Most action he's seen in years," Rex quips.

"Rex!"

Andre laughs once. "Amazing. He's already moved on to lil' red; record time, too…" He mumbles.

His eyes narrow. Shit is about to go down.

"It isn't like that, Andre." He hears Cat defend him in a firm, decidedly, _un-_Catlike tone before he could say anything.

Andre scoffs and looks disbelieving.

"Yeah, Andre. We're just friends." He says, challenging him to say otherwise.

He looked like he was about to say something else, until Tori looked at him. "Andre." They had a silent conversation with their eyes and he kept his mouth shut. Whipped, much?

He looked at Cat who was staring at Andre and Tori intensely. He glanced over to Jade and could tell for whatever reason she looked on the edge of explosion. Beck waited until she looked at him. She rolled her eyes when she saw him looking again. He guesses she was embarrassed that he kept catching her at her worst moments.

The weird tension from before came back and the table fell silent. Everyone just kind of gave up.

He takes the opportunity to think things over. Obviously, he and Andre had some beef now; that much was clear. When he suddenly went off script with the whole girlfriend thing, Beck just ran with it in the hopes of actually telling him how he felt. He didn't know he had that much animosity built up towards him until they were in each other's faces and _oh_ the things he was saying. He doesn't know if Andre really meant it or was it was just improv. _She'd never go for you, you're nothing_? Did he mean that? And he called Tori his girlfriend? Does he really think of her as his? If so, that's just sad. And it pisses him off. He's the one who loves her. Andre doesn't _own _Tori.

Oh, yeah, he let _that_ cat out of the bag. It was sort of a relief to say it aloud, that he loves her, although the only one who knew it wasn't part of the scene was Andre. And Sikowitz, he guesses, but he was probably zonked out on coconuts and probably wouldn't even remember.

He really needs to talk to Tori. If anything, he really does want to spend time with her. And why shouldn't he? Because he was in denial of how he feels? He realizes that now.

The way everyone looks at him now is kind of sad. He can't even convince people that he doesn't care, that nothing is going on, he's not interested.

Because it's all lies.

He told the whole class that he loves her. And they were completely unsuspecting.

Oh, and what was with the way Cat looked at him when she mentioned she was with Tori Saturday and the way Tori got nervous, like she was going to spill something she really shouldn't? Did they talk about him during their 'girl talk'? He doesn't know. He could find that out when he talks to Tori. Because that's really what he needs to do. Talk to the girl that was at the root of all of this. Maybe he'll ask her to hang out after school? Yeah, he devises, he'll ask Tori after school.

He's startled out of his trance by Robbie hitting his shoulder. He looks around and everyone is getting up. Lunch is over.

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><p>He spends all day thinking about what to do with Tori. Where to go. What to wear? When would they go, today? Tomorrow? The weekend? He gets nervous as the last bell of the day rings and he stands up and books it to the parking lot. He knows she usually rides with Trina so he looks around for either of them.<p>

He stands in the middle of the lot, looking in every direction.

"Looking for someone?" He turns around and his face falls. Jade.

"I can't talk right now." He says as he looks over her head for any sign of one of the Vega sisters. Preferably, the one he was in love with and definitely not the crazy narcissistic one.

"Who, Vega? I passed her in the hall. She's coming out now." She says.

He finally looks at her. "She is?"

"Look, we need to talk. You obviously saw some things at lunch that you probably misinterpreted. And I—" He cuts her off.

"I'd be glad to have this conversation with you some other time, but not now. I have to ask her something." He finally spots her walking in the other direction. "Gotta go." He touches Jade's shoulder as he makes his way to catch up with Tori as she heads towards Trina's car.

He doesn't look back as he runs after her. "Tori!" He shouts.

She turns around at the sound of her name and seems surprised to see him making his way toward her. "Beck?"

He reaches her and draws in a breath. "Areyoubusythisweek?" He blurts.

"Um…" She blinks. "I have a dance class after school on Wednesday, but other than that, no."

"Well, uh. I was wondering if you'd wanna hang out sometime. And talk," He adds trying as much as he can to make it not sound like date.

She doesn't say anything for a moment and he's facepalming repeatedly. "Or, you know, whatever. Maybe not... that's okay." He sys, waiting for her rejection.

"Sure! I'd love to hang out with you!" She smiles. His heart falters.

"Um, when?" He smiles a little, trying not to sound overexcited.

"I'm free right now… or we could go tomorrow if you want?" She seems a little nervous. So is he.

"How about tomorrow?" He asks. _I'm so gonna need time to calm the fuck down._

"It's a…plan." She smiles sheepishly. Beck knows she was going to say date.

"Sure is. We can go straight after school."

"Okay." She's still smiling. She seems happy about this. And shoo, who's he fooling, so is he.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then. Something to look forward too," He murmurs.

She grins even wider, if that were possible.

They just stand there, grinning at each other for a while.

"Tori!" He hears Trina screech. "The sale is ending!"

"Well, uh, I should go. Trina might blow a gasket and then I'd have to clean it up." She smiles and backs away a little.

"Okay. See you later." He says and with one last look, she turns around and makes her way to Trina's impatiently waiting car.

He sighs and watches her go. So he's got a non-date with Tori. _Cool._

He notices the lot is emptying out and makes his way over to his car, feeling lighthearted. It was like his mood was the complete polar opposite from when he started the day. He doesn't even have time to feel pissed off at Andre or wonder about Cat or Ja—

"That was cute."

Speak of the devil. She's leaning on the side of his car.

"Jade! Just the person I didn't want to see. What do you want?" He jibes as he unlocks the door but doesn't get in.

He leans next to her. "You totally bailed when I had something to say. Although, I will admit it was pretty entertaining watching you and Vega bumble like idiots at each other for like five minutes." She smirks at him.

He rolls his eyes. "Is that what you want? To make fun? I thought you were past that." He asks.

"Oh, Oliver, I'm never past that." She says. "But seriously, it _was _kind of… cute. I guess?" She wrinkles her nose. He knows that's the closest he'll get to her saying something nice about them. He takes it.

"Alright. What did you want to say earlier?" He asks as he jangles his keys and wonders why he has so many of them. He only uses like two. He'd have to sort them.

"So…about lunch. What you _think _you saw, you didn't." She says firmly.

He laughs. "What do I think I saw?"

"You know." She tries to glare at him but fails.

"You just pretty much cornered yourself there. I could have not seen anything at all." He smirks.

Jade rolls her eyes. "But I know you did."

"Fine. I _know _I saw you look disappointed when Cat was giving you the cold shoulder and I _know _I saw you look jealous when she mentioned that she hung with Tori and I _definitely_ know I saw you try to act normal but you were about to explode when Andre tried to pull that shit with me and Cat. Explode with what, I don't know. Jealousy?" He challenges.

He has her there, and she knows it. "She did not give me the cold shoulder." She grumbles and looks uncomfortable.

"Well, at least she was polite about it."

She says nothing.

"Besides, I have my own theories for why you felt the way you did. I notice things," He says nonchalantly.

She snaps her head up to look him in the eyes. He's still playing with his keys so she takes them from his hands and throws them down onto the pavement.

"What do you _know_, Beckett?" She grits out through closed teeth and grips the front of his shirt in her fist, much like an elementary school bully would do.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, chill out. I said _theories_." He clarifies as he pushes her hand away and smoothes out his shirt. Bipolar much? "But now I'm curious. What's going on with you, Jade? And Cat for that matter? What's going on between the two of you?" He asks, pretty damn curious now. They were acting beyond weird, now that he thought of it.

"_Nothing_ is going on between me and Cat." She answers, a little too quickly.

"Hmm." He says simply as he purses his lips and furrows his brow. AKA, his classic Deep Thinking Face.

"I should go before you make your brain explode." She pats his forehead and moves away. "Oh, and have fun on your date." She calls over her shoulder, never looking back.

"How did you…" He starts but shrugs it off. She can put two and two together. "It's not a date!" He calls out after her but she just keeps going.

Geez. He lets out a sigh as he retrieves his keys from the ground. He pulls away from Hollywood Arts as his mind is turning. Operation Find-Out-What-Alien-Force-Has-Taken-Over-Jade-and-Cat is now moved to number two on his to-do list.

Number one? Stress about his date with Tori.

_Non-date, _he mentally chastises himself.

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><p><strong>AN: Oh, Jade. You're so transparent. Surprisingly, I really enjoy writing interactions between Beck and Jade! All of the sarcasm and teasing, probably. :) So, We're going to be delving deeper into the Cat/Jade thing while Beck realizes his want to spend time with Tori, thus kicking off the start of Bori. For the next few chapters the Cat/Jade debacle is sort of put on the back burner for a little bit because it's going to start focusing on Beck and Tori's growing relationship (and the drama that comes with it). Exciting.**

***Chapter 10: A day at school; Cat's behaviors being increasingly questionable, Beck awaits his non-date with Tori, more Andre drama, and of course, another painfully awkward lunch.**

Reviews/Alerts/Favorites = love.

Thank you for all the love. :)

Lastly, questions, predictions, confusion over plot points: _**PM me.**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Nooooope. Not mine. Dan owns this show. I own this story. And a tube of Burt's Bees. That stuff is the bomb!  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

Beck awakes the next morning feeling exponentially better than he did yesterday. He spent all last night freaking out over the non-date he had with Tori today. He smiles at the thought. He dresses for school, taking his time. He didn't want to look like a complete slob, right? Then she'd never date him.

What? Date him? _No. The point of this … _non-date_ is to hang out. Talk over the weirdness. You're not trying to like, ask for her hand in marriage._ He mentally preps himself. Like a loser. He still has about seven hours to go and he's already making a fool of himself. He's not even around her yet.

He's smiling like a damn fool the whole way to school, listening to some lame pop song that he would be super embarrassed about if anyone found out. Normally he wouldn't even listen to this, but somehow, all of his radio pre-sets are mysteriously changed around (he suspects Robbie did it) and he can't even bring himself to care. It was seriously like the beginning of a terrible romantic comedy, before everything goes to shit. _Yeah, wonder when that'll be. _

He's still in a good mood as he locks up his car and makes his way inside, sipping his coffee with plenty of time. He says hey to everyone who greets him and smiles at people he doesn't know. He's just strolling along, happy-go-lucky, when someone grabs his arm and shoves him in the janitor's closet. They flip the switch and light floods the closet and he sees his crazy ex-girlfriend with her judge-y face on.

"Do you ever leave me alone?" He laughs.

"So, tell me. What exactly did you decide to smoke before school today? Because I didn't know you were in to that." She mocks.

"Shut up Jade. I'm just happy. Am I not allowed to be happy?" He moves past her to open the door.

"I'm just saying… don't get caught up in this too soon." She warned.

Beck rolls his eyes. Classic Jade, the perpetual pessimist. "I won't get caught up if you tell me what gives with you and Cat." He challenges, sipping his coffee.

The warning bell rings and she glares.

"Thought so. Gotta get to class." He smirks and strides toward his first period.

The rest of the day passes by without incident. Sikowitz taught almost the whole time so no one did any scenes in his class. When the bell for lunch chimed, Beck smiled. He was excited, as much as he would prefer not to admit. He stood up and saw Tori at the front of the class. _Maybe I'll walk with her today._

But then he sees Andre pop up behind her and quickly decides that that plan is out. He makes eye contact with him for just a brief moment before he turns and makes his way to lunch. _Jesus, Beck, you guys aren't married now._

He turns the corner into the hallway and begins walking amongst the sea of hungry teenagers. He looks around at all of the faces of people he sees everyday but never really took the time to get to know any of them well enough and sighs. He has his group of six and he's fine with that, none of them were his very best closest friend, but he didn't hate any of them. Well…

He doesn't dwell. He hears his name being called vaguely from far away and turns around to see Cat chasing him. He politely steps out of the sea of traffic and waits for her to catch up.

"Hey!" She says, catching her breath as they stand there against some lockers waiting for everyone to pass by to get to the Asphalt Café.

"Hey, Cat." He says coolly.

"How are you today, Becky?" He says with a smile, tilting her head and twisting a lock of her hair.

Her dimples make him smile back. "I'm great." And he means it. The tingling sensation he's had in the pit of his stomach hasn't subsided as the day progressed on like he expected it to. In fact, it seemed the longer he was at school, the more the strange tingles of… excitement…? became severe. Nonetheless, he's been in a good mood all day long looking forward to the time he got to spend with Tori after school. His tingles kick into overdrive. _Peculiar, this feeling was. _

She gives him a little smirk and giggles, touching her hand to his arm for a second, and if he didn't know any better, it seemed like Cat was almost…flirting? _No._ He shakes his head. All of this feelings shit must be messing with his head. Cat would never flirt with him. They were friends. Not to mention, something fishy was going on between her and a certain ex-girlfriend of his…

He decides to bring it up. "Cat… what's up with you and Jade? And don't say nothing. Because I know it's not nothing." He fixes her with a stare.

Her smile diminishes and she settles for crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against a locker, biting her lip. "Me and Jade?" She asks the question aloud, more to herself. "Honestly, I don't even know." She looks him in the eye. "But, you should probably drop it. She wouldn't be very happy if she knew you were asking about it." She says.

"She already knows. I've been asking her about it since yesterday. And she pretty much confirmed that something was up with you two by saying that nothing was up with you two, if you know what I mean." He sighs, looking around. The crowd thinned out, just a few loiterers.

"You talked to her about it?" She widens her eyes, but then shakes her head. "No. You know what, nevermind. If Jade says nothing is going on then there's your answer, Becky. Nothing is going on." Cat says and he can't quite make out what her voice was tinged with. Sadness? No. Anger? Not really. Resignation? Yeah. That was it.

"What about you and Tori?" She smirks as he's caught off guard and stutters.

"Uhhhh…." He clams up and fumbles for reply, but not before the brunette in question showed up with Andre at her flanks, the latter looking less than thrilled to be there.

"What about Tori?" She asks brightly and smiles at him and Cat and he can't help but melt and smile back. Andre clears his throat and they look away shyly.

"Oh, nothing." Cat giggles. "Me and Becky were just having _girl talk_." She grins over at him using the same line on Tori that she used on Beck the previous day during lunch and he laughs once, shaking his head in disbelief.

"You could say that." The left side of his mouth turns up in a half-smile.

"What are you guys just doing, standing here?" Andre asks, a little stiffly and Tori shoots him a look.

Beck fights the urge to roll his eyes. Shooting a porno. _What the hell does it look like?_ He takes a breath and replies in a neutral tone of voice for Tori's sake. "Well, we were waiting out the crowd…" He trails off looking around again at the nearly empty hallway.

"But we got caught up in our girl talk." Cat finishes for him and smirks, giving an obvious wink towards Beck.

He's disarmed for a second. What was with her today? Being sort of… flirty? It was strange. When she was the one who made it a point to tell Andre at lunch in front of everyone yesterday that they were _just friends_ and she was the one being all weird and evasive about the weird friendship or whatever it was she had with Jade and yet here she was now, winking and giggling and batting her eyelashes at him and he just doesn't know what to think because a) It's Cat, and b) Tori is standing like right in front of him and _damn_, she looks good today in that white sweater thing and those dark jeans…

He realizes he's staring at Tori when Cat throws an elbow at his ribs and unceremoniously says "Becky, quit staring at Tor-Tor. There'll be plenty of time for that _later_." She laughs and grabs Andre and Tori's hands and skips toward the Asphalt Café, calling "C'mon, Becky!" Over her shoulder as she went.

So then Beck is just standing there, in the middle of the empty hallway, blinking like an idiot and rubbing his sore ribs. _That girl…_ He shakes his head and starts to catch up with them. He would never understand Cat.

He sits down at the same time as everyone else, taking a spot between Cat and Tori. Jade is already sitting down across the table, fixing the four of them with her blank stare. Robbie is a safe distance away from her on her left. Andre, predictably, settles down next to Tori and Robbie.

"So _that_ took you a while." Jade states. "I was stuck here listening to this," She points to Robbie who is currently in an argument with Rex over whether or not the striped shirt he wore that day made him look like a girl.

Beck laughs.

"Well, Beck and I just got to talking in the hall, _he is so funny_, by the way! And then Andre and Tori came over, and we came right here." Cat chimes looking at Jade with a tight smile.

Beck looked around, and no one was watching, thankfully. He feels like their exchange is kind of private or something. Andre and Tori got up to go order their food, involved in a fierce whisper-yell match, whereas Robbie was still being insulted and ran after the pair of them. So, Beck didn't miss the tightening of Jade's eyes as she looked between them two.

He looked at Cat with a questioning gaze. She was making it sound so much different than it really was. He starts to shake his head and open his mouth to set the record straight, and maybe find out what Cat thought she was doing, but he notices the intense staring match the two girls had acquired. Jade had a straight up menacing face, jaw taut and eyes narrowed, whereas the shorter redhead had a smile on her face, eyes wide and if one looked hard enough they could see how sarcastic those expressions on her face were. Cat radiated faux-innocence and goodwill, when clearly something darker and more foul was brewing just beneath the surface for these girls and suddenly Beck didn't feel like he had any right to be there at all, let alone meddle and pry his way into figuring out what the hell happened exactly between these two, even though he's hella curious now, and he resolves then and there that he was to meddle no more. If Cat wanted to tell him on her own time, cool. Even Jade. If one of them felt the need to share the story with him then, he'd gladly listen but as of right now it was none of his business and quite frankly, not in his top priorities at this moment in time.

His main concern right now was on the beautiful brunette still talking heatedly with her best friend over by the Grub Truck and Beck could see even from here how said best friend was staring at her, a mixture of worry, disappointment, and a hint of longing tinting his features. Eventually, Robbie came back to the table with a Wahoo! Punch and Tori and Andre eventually followed suit, food in hand. Tori was trying to act normal, but as Beck studied her he saw she was clearly torn up about something. He didn't care what Andre looked like, because honestly, he didn't really care. He wonders if Andre was trying to talk her out of their plans.

Jade and Cat had terminated their staring contest and he could feel the tension emitting from the all four of them in waves, save for Robbie, who seemed blissfully unaware of the situations going on around him, seemingly content to be ignorant to all of the drama. Maybe he could follow his example one of these days. Keeping up with all of this was just simply tiring.

The rest of lunch passed by in a tense silence. Whereas yesterdays lunch was awkward, this one was cold and unfriendly, each person, save for Robbie and himself, clearly rigidly upset about something. No one would make eye contact with each other. Beck tried to talk to Robbie a bit, but eventually he just gave up and focused on his food like everyone else.

When the bell rang, everyone could not get up fast enough. He catches Tori by the arm when the table is vacant. Andre saw Beck and walked off, albeit waiting by the doors for her.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asks, hand resting on her arm.

She smiles and nods but he can see right through it. "Seriously, Tori, what's wrong? Is it Andre?"

She winces. So he guesses he hit the nail right on the head.

"What did he say about me." He deadpans, fed up with all this bullshit.

"He… He asked me to help him with this new song he was writing today after school after we left Sikowitz's but I told him I couldn't because I already had plans and then he kind of guessed it was with you and then he got upset and at the grub truck he was telling me why I shouldn't go and I just don't understand why he hates you so much and I just don't know…" She finishes, looking rattled. He wants to hug her. So he does. He just wraps his arms around her and almost immediately her warm arms go up around his middle.

He closes his eyes and breathes her in. He's only hugged her once before. And it gets better every time. After a while the bell rings and they let go eventually and just stare at each other. She's biting her lip, and while that leads to wonderful other thoughts, she's upset and he doesn't like that.

"I actually wanted to make sure we were still on for today. I figured he'd be planting seeds in your mind about why I'm such a bad influence." He rolls his eyes.

She smiles. "We're still on…"

A grin spreads across his face as he realizes that despite how incessantly Andre warned her about spending time with him, she still wanted to. She chose him over Andre…

As they eventually separate and go their respective ways to class only after a promise to meet up in the parking lot after school lets out, another thought hits Beck. Maybe there could be a Beck and Tori in the future…

* * *

><p>The end of the day could not come fast enough. As soon as the last bell rang, Beck all but sprinted to the student parking lot to wait by his car for Tori. He caught himself randomly smiling at times, but had managed to get a handle on that before anyone thought he was off his rocker.<p>

He's so deep in his newfound thoughts that he doesn't hear him approach until he speaks.

"What are you guys going to do today?"

Beck snaps out of his reverie and looks up at the intruder. He leans against the driver's side and sighs.

"I don't know, Andre. Grab a bite or something. Hang out. Talk." He says. "Like it's any of your business…" He mumbles.

"It _is _my damn business, Beck! She's my best friend!" Andre cries. Some people look over, interested in the spectacle.

"Really? Is that all she is to you? You know I didn't forget that shit you pulled during the scene yesterday." He says.

Andre's quiet for a moment before speaking low enough to where no one could overhear. "So obviously you can see it. She's more than a friend to me, and to you I guess now, too. And I'll be her friend no matter what happens. But I do know trouble when I see it and her being with you, _that_, is trouble. You're just gonna hurt her. You may not mean it, but it'll happen eventually. I don't even think you know how to be in a normal relationship anymore. You'll get bored of her and cast her aside. And you a damn fool if you think I'm gonna let that happen to her." Andre finishes staring at him.

Beck takes all of this in before he says in a tired voice, "I'm not going to screw this one up." Maybe it was more to assure himself rather then Andre, but whatever... Tori chooses that precise moment to walk up to them and look between the two exasperated boys.

"What's going on?" She asks cautiously.

"Just… talking." Beck says and unlocks the car, sitting inside and cranking the AC.

Tori looks at him and back at Andre who looks like he wants to say something. Beck sighs, shuts the door and gives them their privacy.

They exchange a few sentences, but Beck doesn't pay any mind to it as he fumbles around for something decent to listen to and within minutes the passenger door is opening and she's sitting inside, staring forward.

He looks at her in question, but she shakes her head, shuts the door, buckles up, and mutters a single word. "Drive."

_Your wish, my command_, he thinks as he peels out of the lot, looks in the rearview mirror, and leaves a very sad faced Andre behind.

**A/N: Poor Andre... he lubs Tori. Oh well. I promise the Cat/Jade thing will be revealed soon, although I have yet to figure out how I'm going to reveal it exactly. **

**Chapter 11: Tori and Beck's non-date. Yep. A whole chapter of just Bori. And trust me... very exciting things happen :D**

_Questions?_ PM me.

**OH! And I'm going to be working on a few victorious one-shots... Any ideas for pairings? If so I'd love to hear your suggestions. And if you haven't already done so, feel free to check out my one shot I just put out. Love to hear what you think.

As always a million hugs and kisses for every review.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious... Dan Schneider does.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

They drive for a little while in silence. Beck looks over to her. "Down for some fro-yo?"

She smiles and nods, leaning her head back against the headrest.

Beck sets out for the nearest frozen yogurt place and sees the bummed look on her face. He sighs. This really isn't how he wanted this to go.

"Look, can we just forget about everything for an afternoon? I don't want to be weighed down by all this drama." He says, meaning it too. This afternoon was about him and Tori.

She's quiet for a few seconds and eventually smiles. "You're right; I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Letting it get to me."

"Don't be sorry about having feelings, Tori."

It's silent until he hears her quiet, yet cheerful voice.

"So… you seem like a vanilla person," She says.

He smiles. "Oh, how wrong you are. Addicted to chocolate, and proud of it." He grins over at her and she returns it.

"Really? Never would have thought." She mulls it over.

"That's kind of an insult, Vega. Vanilla's plain and boring. Do you see me as plain and boring?" He teases and changes lanes.

"Well…" She starts.

"Hey!" He exclaims and laughs.

"I'm kidding. There's nothing plain about you, Beck." She says, and looks out the window.

He ponders that the rest of the way there.

She settles on strawberry with a ton of fruity toppings and he proudly sports a cup of chocolate concoction with all the works. They settle into a booth at the back of the yogurt shop.

"That is the cutest thing I've ever seen." She teases, pointing at the gummy bears awaiting their demise in his mouth.

He shrugs sheepishly. "I love the little guys," He admits.

After she takes a bite of her own yogurt, she looks at him with a thoughtful expression.

"What did you want to talk about?" She asks as she swallows.

"Huh?"

"Yesterday. When you invited me, you said we should talk about things. What things?" She asks.

He pauses, spoonful of gummies and sprinkles halfway to his mouth, and thinks. There was definitely a lot he could mention.

"Just... stuff." He oh so eloquently grumbles, and swallows the spoonful of sugar.

"Like…" She presses. She's more persistent than he thought.

"Um…" He hesitates.

"Spit it out, Beck." Persistent _and _demanding, that is. He kind of likes it, he decides.

He sighs. Why not jump the gun already? "Us, Andre, last Friday, feelings… Need I go on?"

"What about feelings?" She asks, setting her spoon down.

He shovels another spoonful into his mouth and treads these waters carefully. "Well…"

She changes the subject spontaneously, much to his relief. "How about you tell me what was up with the scene you and Andre did yesterday?"

He stops mid-swallow and almost chokes. Relief over. "What do you mean? It was a fight scene." He supplies, after he recovers.

"Seemed a little too fishy for me." She says with a determined look on her face.

He says nothing.

She raises her eyebrows. "Okay, well I guess I'll show you." She says and reaches over in her bag and pulls out a crumpled wad of yellow paper and sets it in front of him.

He furrows his brow. "What's this?"

"Open it." She commands.

Hesitantly he reaches over and unfolds the paper in his hand. He recognizes it as the script from yesterday and his attention is drawn to the last page that it was already flipped to. His heart skips a beat as he realizes that this showed how the rest of the scene really went and that she must have read it.

"So…?" He feigns ignorance and looks up at her, stone faced as stone faced could be.

"Beck, I'm not stupid. I thought that scene was a little too strange, so when you all left I grabbed that and read the rest of it. And that is _not _what you guys acted out yesterday. Or were you even acting?" She asks and sees the look on his face and his clenched jaw and deduces that as a solid _no. _

He doesn't know what to say, so he doesn't.

"And it didn't take long for me to figure it out. I was a little thrown off with Andre's girlfriend comment, but I realized it soon enough. You were talking about me." She says and any trace of humor or mirth is wiped from her expression as well. She matches his intense stare.

He still stays silent for fear of what he might say.

"And I heard what you said to him." Is all she says on the subject.

He's glad she doesn't specify. But he knows what she means. She heard him say he loved her, just as he heard her say the same thing.

She doesn't say anything else after that, seeming done with the topic, and neither does he.

He swallows and thinks of something to say. "So what did Cat and you talk about on Saturday?"

"Honestly? You." She says bluntly and he's a little surprised. She looks calm, picking up her spoon to take another bite of her slightly melted yogurt.

"What about me?" He asks a little quieter than normal because he doesn't know for sure if his voice will shake or not.

She smiles. "Later," She says and pats his head.

He's reminded of the time he said the same thing to her when she was asking about the bird scene. He smiles a little, relaxing and shoveling yogurt into his waiting mouth.

He thinks for a moment of Cat. Would Tori know anything about that? He knows he said he'd put it to rest but damn, he's still curious. "So, have you noticed anything weird with Cat?" He asks her.

"You mean how she was flirting with you?" She asks, and crosses her arms across her chest.

He laughs. "She was not flirting." He says and leans back, spoon in hand.

"She was too! Today in the hall. And she was pretty quick to say you two were 'just friends' to Andre yesterday." She says, accusingly.

He laughs some more. "Why, Vega, I'd say you were jealous!"

She flushes a little. "It's just, you two seem like better friends now."

"We are." He says evenly.

Her face falls a little.

"But, not in the way everyone thinks. Trust me, me and Cat are just friends. Despite what Andre or Jade or anyone thinks." He didn't like having to always defend his friendship with Cat. It just wasn't like that between them. Sure she was a little friendlier than normal today, but he figures that's just her, and it was probably something he would need to talk to her about later.

Tori however, doesn't look convinced. "Look… I love Cat. And I… you're both my friends. If you two want to date, I'm okay with it." She says.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa… who said anything about dating? I'm not dating Cat, and I'm not planning to. We are just friends, Tori. Besides, I only wanna date one person." He says the last part without really thinking.

She freezes and speaks in a quiet voice, seemingly afraid of his answer. "Who?"

He levels her with a stare and decides he's really sick of pretending around her. She deserved to know.

"Honestly? You." Their eye contact is so intense, it's almost hard to keep looking but no one breaks it.

"Beck…" She tries, but he cuts her off.

"No, listen to me. I wasn't planning on doing this today, or anytime soon. But… I feel like I should tell you. I… really like you Tori. I always have. And I know that this is probably not the best timing right now, because I don't have any clue why I'm saying this right now and this isn't how it should go, but all I know now Tori… is that I want to be with you. But I know there are all of these things in the way and it just… I wasn't even going to tell you this because there's no way in hell that I deserve you, and maybe Andre is right in that respect. I'm sorry. But… I'm not good enough for you." He finishes, not believing what he just blurted out to her and now she has this look on her face, her eyes are wide and her mouth is open and he can practically see her mind racing.

He realizes he has just made a colossal fool of himself so he does the cowardly thing, he rushes out of the place and goes to sit in his car. He's itching to go to the beach, but the rational part of his brain tells him he shouldn't just ditch her.

_What the fuck did I just say? You weren't even going to tell her this and now you almost said you love her! You idiot! She wasn't supposed to know!_

He fumbles with his keys, yelling at himself in his head, trying to unlock his door when he hears her screaming his name and running towards him. She's getting closer now, and his hands _just _won't cooperate and he accidentally drops the keys on the ground. He curses and lets out a frustrated yell and kicks his tire as hard as he can and he just can't _do_ this.

She reaches him and puts her hand on his arm. The hands that were clenched in his hair drop to his sides as she urges him to face her. His eyes are clenched shut because he doesn't want to see her reaction. She's silent for a while as she tries to catch her breath, and he opens his eyes just in time to see her propel herself forward and crush her lips to his. He's wildly surprised.

_This_ wasn't supposed to happen! But he's definitely not complaining, and within seconds he's kissing her back, just as fiercely. His eyes shut and he wraps his arms around her waist as hers go up around his neck. He pulls her even closer, and soon she's flush against his body and his mind is blank as he feels her tongue in his mouth and _oh my god_ this is not happening. This is nothing like their first kiss, which was done out of revenge to get back at Jade. This one is hot and full of emotions. Anger, frustration, embarrassment, shame, fear, anxiety, curiosity, admiration, surprise, love, _lust…_ just, everything they are feeling is coming to the surface at the same time. Her hands tangle in his hair and he pushes her back against the side of his car and everything is just so intense and emotional and as he moves his attentions to her neck he's thinking how he just can't get enough of her and his pulse is pounding everywhere and he's never felt so vulnerable yet feral at the same time.

He quickly pulls back when he hears a car honk and remembers himself. He puts a foot of distance in between them to clear his head. They catch their breath and he sees just how much her hair is slightly mussed and her lips are swollen and redder than usual and her eyes are wild and soon they're just looking at each other.

"You're wrong." She breaks the silence. "You _are_ good enough for me, Beck. Just by thinking you aren't…you are_._ And you don't have any idea of how I feel about you… you're right this is sudden, but, it just… feels _right._ And I don't care if Andre or anyone else doesn't like it. It's not about them." She finishes and stares at him.

He slowly begins to grin and puts his hand on her cheek. "You never cease to amaze me, Vega."

* * *

><p>They drive home in comfortable silence, and she's clutching his hand like she's afraid to let go; he knows the feeling.<p>

He pulls up to a stop at her house.

They sit there for a while. The sun is just setting on the horizon, and Beck briefly wishes he took her to see it.

"What now?" She asks, looking over at him.

"We just… see where it goes, I guess." He replies after a while.

She nods, and he nods, and then he meets her gaze.

She smiles. "I had fun with you today, Beck."

"I did too." He replies and leans closer to her.

"Thank you for asking me to hang out with you."

"Thank you for kissing me." He smirks.

She blushes and he brushes it with the pad of his thumb.

"Why do you do that so much around me?" He asks.

"Do what?"

"Blush."

"You make me nervous, Beckett." She admits, and pulls her bottom lip in her mouth with her teeth.

He smirks again and leans into her until their lips are almost touching. "You have no idea what you do to me." He whispers, his voice doing this weird deep thing he's not used to.

But all thought is erased from his mind as she captures his lips with hers for the briefest of seconds before pulling away. "I should go." She smiles and opens the passenger door. She places both feet on the ground before turning around again and opening her mouth say something before he's kissing her again, long and hard.

She blinks when he pulls away. "Bye, Beck." She whispers in a daze and gets out of the car.

He watches her get to the front door and waves him goodbye. He smiles and returns it as he pulls away. _"Wow..." _He whispers as he drives home._  
><em>

Tori enters her house and is immediately met with Trina.

"Where were you?" She demands.

She's still in a dreamy state as she answers her sister with, "Um... with Beck."

"Isn't that Jade's boyfriend?" Trina asks, and Tori is just surprised she remembers their names.

"No." She smiles and makes her way up the stairs.

"Wow." She sighs as she leans against her bedroom door once she's inside. Her Pearphone rings in her purse and she fishes around for it and sees that it's Andre calling, probably to check up on her. She hits reject without any thought. She didn't feel like listening to his nonsense right now.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well hi guise. If any of you still read this. How do I even begin to apologize? I'm a pretty shitty person, I'll give you that.** **School started on Monday, and I get home at five o'clock every evening, and shit, dude, I already have homework coming out my ass. I'm so sorry... I meant to get in a chapter before the week started but alas, I didn't. Enough of my excuses. **

**We got a kiss :) Exciting. Now I know I kind of crammed a lot of stuff in here, but it had to happen and I didn't want a bunch of filler chapters. Looks like Tori has a backbone. I wonder how Andre's gonna take it when he finds out? I don't know. (Really, I don't.) And the whole Jade and Cat thing... I'll shed some light on that shortly.**

**If you haven't checked out my new story, you should, if you want. It's a Bori, but it's going to be super angsty and all that good stuff... so... happy readings and I love you all.**

**Like I said, school just started again so it might be a little longer between chapters. Basketball season is slowly descending upon me, so that will take up some time as well, but not for a little while longer. **

**Anyways, thank you for the reviews. They mean the world to me.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I'm not Dan Schneider. So nope, this show ain't mine. Story is, though.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 12<strong>

"So, you want to tell me what happened?"

"What do you mean?" Beck asks, looking around the janitor's closet he had just been pushed into.

"Yesterday. With Tori." Cat explains, closing the door behind them.

"Oh…" A little grin plays on his lips as he remembers. "Nothing."

"Don't lie to me, Becky."

"_You_ wanna tell _me _what happened?"

She just gives him a 'what the hell are you talking about' kind of look.

"With Jade." He smirks. Two could play that game.

"Ugh… Becky, _shut up._" She sighs, sounding exasperated.

"Then just tell me, Cat. It's not that hard." He says.

"But that's where you're wrong, Becky. It _is _hard." She answers, looking at the floor.

"What's so hard about it?"

"It's hard to explain, it's hard to talk about, and it's just hard to think about." She admits, the rest of her usual exuberant demeanor slipping away.

His amused expression drops as well. "Cat… you know you can trust me. I can help you figure shit out, at least. I want to help," He says, surprising them both.

"Because you're _curious_." She says, still looking down.

"No. Because I _care._" He tries to convey as much sincerity as he can. Because it's true, he does care. Cat's his friend and he could tell whatever this situation was, it was eating her up inside but she kept it hidden behind her bubbly exterior. He sees through all that.

She lifts her head slowly and her wide brown eyes smolder his. "You do?" She sounds so surprised and it makes his chest ache.

"Yeah, I do." He nods, and decides then and there that he would help this girl. Even if he doesn't know the whole story, he would try to help her. He would be a better friend.

The bell for class rings but neither of them pay any attention to it.

Her mouth opens and closes and she makes these noises like she wants to say something, but she doesn't know exactly what.

"Thank you," She settles on and gives him a grateful smile. He's a little baffled as to why Cat is so surprised that he cares, that he actually _gives a shit_, but there were so many things about her that he'd probably never understand.

They stand in silence for a little while longer. "You wanna get out of here?" He finally asks.

"You mean, like, ditch?" She cocks her head to the side.

"Yeah." He affirms.

"Okay." She smiles brightly and opens up the door.

"Okay." He nods and they make their way to the front doors.

* * *

><p>When they're on the road finally, she starts in on the third degree.<p>

"So, what happened? I'm _dying_ to know."

"With Tori?" He plays dumb.

"Duh!"

He laughs. All day he'd been sort of stupid, like smiling for no reason and embarrassing feminine crap like that. Whenever he saw her, they'd look at each other, smile shyly, and look away. There was no PDA because, honestly? He doesn't know where they stand. They kind of left it open-ended and he was a bit disappointed, he wasn't gonna lie. He was hoping she'd want to make it official right away or something.

"Well…" He takes his time to answer, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, building up suspense.

"Come on!" She urges.

"We kind of… kissed. A lot…" He says finally, as he nears the beach.

Her jaw drops and he finds a place to park.

"What!" She cries and hops out of the car so fast he hadn't even had time to turn the engine off, let alone get out.

"Yeah." He shrugs it off as they start walking along the shore.

"Don't do that," She scolds.

"Do what?"

"Play it off like it was no big deal. I know it's a big deal!" She says, and hits him on the arm.

"It was not."

"Don't deny! How was it?" She smirks as they pass a mom and her two little kids playing in the sand, them bouncing around just as much as Cat was.

He laughs. "It was…" He searches for the right adjective. "Mind-numbing." He settles on, remembering it in his head and deciding that that was the right word because there were just _no_ words.

Cat squeals and it attracts the attention of some of the people they pass.

"That is so cute!" She smiles so widely, it almost splits her face in half.

"Cat, calm down." He chuckles.

"No! Becky, that is adorable." She beams at him again and he's a little taken aback.

He shrugs. They find a spot to sit and he plops down in the sand. She gracefully lowers herself next to him and begins to try and take her shoes off.

He smiles a little.

"So, when are you going out next?" She asks as she fumbles with the buckle on her sandal.

"Uh…" He pauses.

She looks back at him. "What do you mean, 'uh'? You _did_ ask her out again, didn't you?" She asks and gives him a serious look.

"Well… no, not exactly. She asked what was going to happen next and I said we'd just see where it went." He sees her wide eyes. "What? Is that bad?"

She bugs out. "Yes!"

"Why?"

"If you didn't specify anything then she's not going to know how serious you are or if she was just an experiment to you." She says distastefully and makes a face, like she has a bad taste in her mouth.

He furrows his brow. "She seemed fine with it when she left. And today she seemed great, actually. From what I saw."

"She's pretending. Or it hasn't hit her yet. When it does… it's not going to be good." She stares off into space.

He gives her a perplexed look. "Uh, Cat?"

She snaps out of it and looks back at him. "Sorry, Becky." She mumbles and resumes wrestling her shoe off.

He sheds the plaid shirt he had over his black undershirt as the heat hits him.

"Do you think I should make it official?" He asks.

She lets out a breath. "If you really want to."

He's quiet for a moment.

She looks worried. "You _do_ want to, right? Becky?"

He opens his mouth. He does! _Right? _Yeah_..._ "We're not here to talk about me, Cat." He sighs.

She gives him a strange look for a second and then goes back to her shoe.

He laughs, witnessing her trouble. "How have you not gotten that one off yet?"

"I can't do it." She whines.

"Gimme your foot."

She turns and places it on his lap.

He chuckles as he begins to unbuckle it. "'The hell you do to this thing?"

She shrugs. "I dunno."

He smiles some more. It's comfortably quiet for a little, him trying to undo the Gordian Knot that was her buckle, she just staring out at the blue waves.

"I think it's great. You and Tori." She smiles. "Really, I do. It's super-duper cute and… you're good together." At this point he had stilled his movements on her foot and was just staring at the sandal, listening to her as she went on. "You're more… fun now. And I think that it has something to do with her. She mellows you out, I think." Her eyes twinkle.

He considers this for a moment. "Before anything happened between us I was the opposite of mellow. At least, when I was alone. I freaked out constantly over what to do with my 'feelings'. But now that I've told her… well more like I _showed _her, if you know what I mean…" He smirks. "But, I feel better since yesterday. I love being with her. And I guess I left it up to her, but now that I think about it, it's really kind of on me to make the next move… but what is the next move? Do I ask her on a date? Ask her to be my girlfriend? Would we keep it a secret? Do I just go up to her and kiss her senseless? I'm at a loss, here. I don't know what to do. What do I do? I need to do something." He stops to catch his breath. Talk about diarrhea of the mouth. He hadn't meant to ramble but Cat's kind of the only one he can think of to talk to about this, and plus she's _here_ and really, most of that was just baggage he needed to get off his chest anyways.

"You don't have to always know the next move, Becky." Her voice breaks through his inner monologue, reminding him of her presence.

He doesn't say anything back.

After a while, she forcibly pried her shoe off her foot and laid back in the sand, using her cardigan as a pillow.

He lies down beside her and closes his dark eyes. He starts to think of random things. Yogurt, iced coffee, Tori's hair, lemonade from a can, his father's angry face, Tori's lips, what the others might be doing at school, the ocean waves, Tori's _everything…_ It's only when he's caught in that state of almost asleep, but still pretty much aware of what's going on, that Cat speaks again.

"How did you get over Jade so quickly?" She sounds kind of distant, even though she's lying directly to his left side, a handful of inches between them.

He keeps his eyes closed and answers her truthfully.

"Things between us had fizzled out for a while. I didn't hate her, per se, but I kind of began to resent her a little at the end. Yet, I didn't break up with her. I never did, she was always the one who ended it. I don't really know why I let it go on like it did for so long. But… Jade's familiar. It was hard to quit her cold turkey, if you know what I mean. It's kind of hard to explain. It's like when I was around her, I couldn't take it. But when we were apart… I'm not going to say I _missed _her… but it kind of felt like she was supposed to be there, if that makes any sense. I mean sometimes I still have these moments where it's weird that I'm not around her 24/7. But I think it took us breaking up and me moving on for me to not completely hate her guts." Oxymoron, much? "Sorry, that didn't make any sense."

"I kinda get it. Like when I don't wear my favorite bracelet, it feels like it's missing. It's not the prettiest, but it's special. That's why it's my favorite." She says, in all seriousness.

He laughs. "Sure. I guess you could look at it that way."

"Have you ever felt a certain way you _really_ shouldn't?" She blurts so suddenly, that he snaps his eyes open and turns his head to look at her. She's wringing her hands like she's nervous, and staring at the sky.

"Yeah… I guess." He says, a little suspicious.

"I mean about another person. Like, you know you aren't supposed to feel this certain way, but you just can't _help_ it… and like… you know it's wrong but it just won't stop… but you know that they aren't really into you like that… and if they even pay any attention to you at all, it's probably just because they're curious and bored, but all the same, you won't complain, because at least you get to be around them." She pauses before swallowing and adding, "Until you want more."

He freezes. Was she talking about…?

He thinks back to the time the two of them had spent together. He was like, one of the first to pay her any attention. And he _was_ curious about her… and she probably thought that it was so wrong to like him because she knew he had feelings for Tori. Did she misinterpret something he did?

He widens his eyes. That would explain why she and Jade had so much weird tension and beef between them! She probably told Jade she wanted him and Jade probably got upset about it!

_Oh my god… she's totally into me!_

She was talking about him! Cat liked him!

What was he going to do? He means, Cat is great, but… they were friends. And 'wanting more'? Did that mean she wanted to _date_ him? He realizes he hasn't said anything yet. "Uh… Cat… we should talk about this…"

She looks over at him.

"I mean… you're great, so totally awesome. You're an amazing friend and you're super cute and adorable and I like spending time with you… but… we're just friends. I like Tori. I'm sorry…" He trails off, fearing he was making this worse. He really didn't want to upset her.

She had furrowed her brow while he was talking and eventually she began to laugh after he trailed off. Hard. They were not even her usual Cat giggles, these were full on… _guffaws. _"Oh my… you thought that… You?" She breaks into another fit of frame shaking laughter. "No, no, no…" She tried to catch her breath. "Oh my goodness, Becky! Thank you! I needed that!"

_Um… what?_

She sees the look on his face and explains as best she can after she's calmed down a bit and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes that had leaked.

"No, Becky. I'm not in love with you." She grins.

_What?_

"But—"

She cuts him off.

"Trust me. I'm not."

"But… you…"

"I know you don't get it. And I can't really blame you for coming to that conclusion. But, I know I'm not into you like that. I mean, I totally would be! If not for… the circumstances…" She says and slowly sits up.

"Wait—"

"I'm not in love you because…" She inhales sharply, as if steeling her nerves.

He waits for her to continue.

"Beck, I like girls."

Mind. BLOW.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Every guy's dream, right? x] this chapter makes me laugh. I really like writing Beck and Cat's interactions. They're fun characters, and they compliment each other. I feel like I waited a long time to drop this plot point, but when I originally wrote out Cat telling Beck, it was planned for like chapter 5.. and it went way different. Beck was still pining for Tori and he hangs out with Cat and just as he realizes, hey, there could be life without Tori, BOOM! Cat just goes, "I'm gay." after a speech he zones out to. I kind of liked that version better but it would require like, the whole story to go differently. **

**And that's also kind of awesome. I love how my writing has a mind of it's own. I have ideas and then i put them to [virtual] paper, and then they turn into a completely different scenario and the story writes itself. :) It's great. Isn't it great?**

**Well... enough about me... Were you expecting that? The whole Cat-Jade debacle isn't even explained yet. But I hope Cat's confession puts some pieces together. Was it predictable? Idk. Lolz little Beckett was conceited for a minute there. But then again, who isn't?**

** Next chapter should maybe probably be mostly more Bat interactions, her explaining things to him. I hope it doesn't suck. ;|**

**Thank you for all the WONDERFUL reviews. Oh and we broke 100 reviews the other day, so EFF YEAH! High fives, everyone! Yeah! ...No? Alright then. (I'm so lame... I'm sorry. It's kind of sad.) **

Now to end this ridiculous author's note:**  
><strong>

***I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again. Every review, story alert, story favorite, author alert and/or author favorite I get in my inbox truly makes my day that much better. This is the first FF I've posted on here, and I feel extremely grateful that you guys responded in the way you did. I'm more inclined and comfortable posting more stories and one-shots on here now. So, thank you for that :) I sincerely love you all for the storylove. I do this for you!**

**-partialprincess****  
><strong>

_Any pairing suggestions for a oneshot?_**  
><strong>


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: This ain't mine c: (see I can say ain't with good reason too, I'm southern.)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 13<strong>

Beck was silent for about three and a half minutes. He didn't know what to say to Cat. What were you supposed to say when your best friend just told you she liked chicks? _Yay? Can you hook me up with one? Can I watch? _ Like…_what?_

He opened his mouth to say something, _anything_, but no words escaped. He was at a loss.

Cat remained silent too, letting him process what he had just heard.

He heard her words in his mind, but he just wouldn't comprehend them. _I like girls. I'm not in love with you because I like girls_. Girls. Cat liked _girls._ Cat was… gay.

"I…" He began speaking without even realizing it and it came out squeaky and embarrassing, reminiscent of his per-pubescent days.

Still she stayed silent, watching his face for a reaction.

He swallowed the lump in his throat. He wanted answers. "You like girls. So, you're…gay?" He whispers and clears his throat, still looking away at his feet.

"Yes. No. Yes and no." She says calmly.

"What?" He furrows his brow. Now is not the time for paradoxical answers. He needed all of it spelled out for him.

"I like girls, yeah. But I'm attracted to guys, too." She states as if it were nothing.

"So you're… bi?" He asks, speaking clearly this time.

She pauses. "I don't like labels."

"I still don't understand, Cat." Beck admits, getting a little frustrated.

"I like girls. I'm into girls. That is true. But I also can appreciate a good looking boy, such as yourself. I don't hate men. I'll even flirt if I want to. I'm a people person." She laughs a little at the end.

He considers this. It wasn't a compete shock. Well, initially yeah, but now that he thinks about it, there were some obvious clues he was missing before that were kind of making sense now.

"So, how does Jade factor into all of this?" He wonders in a firm tone of voice. He wants answers to this thing between Jade and Cat, and he wants them now.

She sighs. "Beck…" She sounds resigned.

"No, Cat. Don't make excuses. Tell me the situation between you two. Tell me what's going on, what went on, whatever. I think I deserve to know, seeing as you're my best friend and she's my ex-girlfriend." It came out a little harshly, but at this point he just doesn't care. He turns and gives her a sharp stare.

She swallows and a shadow crosses her face. "_Fine._ You want to know the situation? I'll tell you." She halts there and takes a calming breath that seemingly took a lot of effort. "Okay… it all kind of came into fruition last year, maybe the year before. I always kind of noticed that I was a little different than other girls. I had never had a boyfriend, and it didn't bother me like it probably should have. I would see pretty girls and get these weird feelings. It was strange, but not necessarily in a bad way. It took me a while to figure out that girls were… _appealing_ to me. So, I thought I was a… lesbian. I thought I had it figured out. It was a little hard to swallow, but eventually I welcomed it. At this point, Jade and I had become pretty good friends. Remember when we all used to hang out so much? You and Andre were so close—" She smiles fondly a little. "But anyways, I considered myself playing for _that_ team, you know. I felt especially… happy around Jade. She was different." Cat pauses again and closes her eyes briefly but continues on with her long, complicated story.

"She would actually put up with me. More than she put up with any one of you. I began to kind of… crave her approval. I wouldn't say I had a crush on her exactly then, but she was definitely more than a friend. She was _Jade._" The corners of her mouth turned up the smallest bit, barely noticeable. Beck had angled his body towards Cat while she spoke, fully engaged in her story. "I knew she didn't like me like that… and that was… acceptable, I guess. But then she started dating you." Her voice took on a new edge and she glanced at him. Her stare wasn't quite resentful, but there was definitely a less than pleasant quality to it. He did nothing. "I buried my… thoughts. Once I realized that you guys were getting pretty serious, I almost fooled myself into believing that it was just a phase; that they all went away. I even opened my eyes to other people. I actually began to see guys in a more than platonic light. I thought it was gone. I believed it was gone." _I hoped it was gone. _Her unspoken words hung in the air like a thick, humid fog.

"It was about three or four months before you guys broke up this last time. It was kind of cold out. She invited me over to help her with 'a project'. I didn't buy that, but I went anyways because it must have been pretty important that she had to make up an excuse. I looked forward to it, because I still lived for the alone time I got to spend with her, and I'll admit to that. I began to have the feelings again. The only thing I wasn't looking forward to was her complaints about you. She had begun to spend every conversation just sounding off about how she was upset with you. Every time we talked about anything, she would just steer the conversation to you guys' relationship and I listened, like a friend should.

"Anyways, we were sitting in her room on her bed. She was ranting, as usual. I was kind of tuning it out, but then she said something. She said, 'Sometimes, if it's not there, it's _not_ there.' And then she got quieter so I looked at her. And then she goes, 'Cat, I don't know what I want.' And then she kissed me." Cat's voice grew low as she continued. "From then on it got messy. Right after she kissed me she like jumped up, apologized a bunch, and then she said I should leave. So I left. I didn't know what it meant, if she saw me that way, or what. We didn't talk about it for the longest time until one night you guys had a bad fight and she came to me. She was pretty upset. She didn't cry, though. _Duh._ But, she told me about how she was scared. And how she loved you but she had a soft spot for me and she wanted to know what it all meant. I told her about how I liked girls and stuff, and she got kind of weird." She took a breath. Beck was completely enraptured with the story at this point because it was all so _weird_.

"And then after that, she kissed me again. And a few days later, she did it again. We never really talked about it. From then on, periodically when she was with me alone, she'd kiss me. A lot. Then, I don't even know. She didn't really explain when she did it each time. She'd just go, 'I need to forget for a while' and then I'd just kind of, make her forget. I wasn't too sure what she was trying to forget, but she was my friend, and I wanted to help her. She needed me." Cat looked over at Beck who was still listening aptly. "It went on like that for a while."

Beck took a moment to digest everything, because _damn_ she talked a lot.

A thought occurs to him. "What happened that one night? The night Jade and I broke up and then you came to talk to me." He asked.

She purses her lips and exhales slowly. "Well, that was the night I had finally had enough. I didn't just want to be someone she just blew off steam with. I wanted more than that. She was real upset with you, and about breaking up with you, so she called me over and you know what she did? She said she wanted to sleep with me. Like, can you believe that? I was just kind of like, pissed off. But then she was saying all this stuff about how she was supposed to love you but still wanted me and it was just all so complicated. So, I turned her down, told her I'd always be there for her if she ever wanted something serious in the future, and then… and then I told her she should get back with you. Because, it hurt like hell having to reject her. And I didn't want her to be unhappy. And I didn't want her to be alone. So, I was pretty adamant that she get back together with you. That's why I went to talk to you. I was really upset, I wasn't thinking clearly. That night was pretty terrible… but one good thing did come out of it." She finishes in a rush.

"What's that?" He asks, almost trance-like, as he was still processing.

"I got you out of it." She breathes, and looks at him with stormy eyes.

He reaches out a hand and squeezes her shoulder.

His mind is racing all the while. So… Jade used Cat to blow off some steam while she was still dating him? That just made him angry. Not just because she technically cheated on him (that was bullshit in itself), but because of how she just toyed with Cat's emotions like that. She was fragile enough, she didn't need her best friend slash the girl she loved to be messing with her head like that. It wasn't fair. He should know.

"She _used_ you…" He says quietly, but meaningful.

Cat sniffed. "I guess."

"That's really not okay, Cat. _I_ don't appreciate that, on your behalf, and you were the person my girlfriend cheated on me with."

Cat laughs weakly. "I'm sorry about that. I feel bad." She says and lets out a sigh. "It's nothing, Beck. _Nothing at all._"

He sighs himself. "Why'd you let her use you like that?"

"I just wanted her in whatever way I could. I'd have preferred a relationship towards the end, but I would have taken what I could get." She says sadly. "But, now it's all screwed to hell and I just don't know anything anymore."

"She's not a healthy person to love." He says.

"I know."

"I know, too."

They're quiet for a moment considering yet another thing that they had in common. They had both loved the same twisted girl, and gotten screwed over in the end because of it.

"Do you still have feelings for her?" He asked.

"Do you?" She countered.

"That's not fair."

"Exactly." She states, glancing at a young couple walking by holding hands.

He considers that.

"So, what's the deal with guys then?" Beck asks.

"What about them?"

"You said you still can be attracted to them."

"Right." She affirms.

"So…"

"So, what?"

He swallows. "I don't know."

"Okay…" She replies, but it sounds more like a question.

"Got your eye on any one in particular?"

She looks at him again and makes a strange face. "You're peculiar sometimes, Becky…"

He grins a white smile. "Aren't we all?" He lays back in the sand on his back and she stays sitting up, watching the waves crash against the shore, and watching the little kids collect seashells and giggle and make castles, and watching the drunken college kids have an enthusiastic tailgate party, and watching an older couple sitting under a large umbrella together talking happily, and just watching everything and everyone. _Why is it that strangers look like they have everything figured out?_ She thinks to herself. Her eyes start to burn as her throat itches tightly.

Beck's relaxing to the sound of the waves for a bit until he hears her sniffling in quick succession. He knows that sound. Uh-oh. "Kitten, are you crying?" He asks softly, looking up at her small back. He scoots forward so he can see her profile.

_Sniff._ "No…" She says stubbornly, and wipes her face quickly.

He chuckles and raises his arm to put around her waist in a comforting gesture. "Hey, it's okay… why are you crying?"

_Sniff._ "I just… I was expecting you to judge me. To hate me. To yell at me, something terrible. I never thought you'd still want to be my friend," She admits and looks down at him and her face is so innocently sad that it makes his chest constrict. He motions her to lie down with him. She does. His arm is still around her.

She's facing up towards the perfect blue sky and he turns his face towards hers. "You don't need to be sad, Cat. I don't judge you or hate you. You're my best friend and nothing you could say or do would make me think any less of you." He says quietly. It's kind of hard for him to communicate this much like, _emotional_ shit, but he knows she needs it.

"You say that now." She says, and closes her eyes as more tears run down her face.

"Hey, look at me." He urges, and wipes a tear with his thumb.

Slowly, she opens her eyes and looks up at him.

"I'm here for you, Cat." He says, and he really does mean it. "I'm here."

Her eyes swim again and she smiles as she buries her face in his chest. "Thank you," She whispers against his shirt.

He tenses a little at first because quite frankly, it feels a little odd to be this close to her. But, he knows she's showing her vulnerability by telling her story and by letting him in. She is a broken, fragile person, with too many falsely happy façades. He relaxes a bit.

After a little while, the tears begin to subside and he can feel the wet spot on his shirt.

She draws away a little to look up at him. Her eyes are still red and wet and her eye makeup is the smallest bit smudged, but Beck is suddenly struck by how tragically beautiful she looks right then. She opens her mouth to speak and he's suddenly really aware of how close they are, and how this particular position they are in must look to the other beachgoers. He clears his throat awkwardly and scoots away gently to draw them both up to a sitting position. He removes his arm.

He rubs the back of his neck and looks over at her to find her staring at his face. And not at his eyes, either.

"Cat?" He has to clear his suddenly dry throat again.

She jerks back to attention and then smiles sheepishly at him. "We have a colorful friendship, Beckett."

"That we do, Kitten. That we do."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Howdy. Sooo you know what's funny? I've been writing this on and off for like five and a half hours and I should be asleep right now, lolz. But I really wanted to get a chapter out. I hope it's not too disappointing. **

**We get Cat's confession! Finally. She's goes both ways, just to clarify.**

**Oh and another thing, this story took a direction that I wasn't aware of happening until I just edited. So, I have a whole nother plot point that may or may not be used. **

**Keep in mind, Bori is my Victorious OTP. Just sayin'.**

**More beck/tori interaction next. We've had two chapters of Bat with Jat undertones, so if you hate it and are in this for the Bori? Then hang tight. Should be next chappy. **

**love you all to death,**

**-pp.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN VICTORIOUS.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 14<strong>

It seemed like as soon as he closed his eyes and drifted off, he was rudely startled awake. He had been in that in-between consciousness state and was having a very pleasant daydream until a dull thudding shot him back into reality. It took him a minute to realize that it was the pounding of someone's impatient fist on his trailer door. It took another minute for him to summon the energy to get up from the couch where he had collapsed and over to open the door.

"What-?" He snaps. After dropping Cat off at her house, he had come home to nap for a few. _I guess emotional tell-alls really wear you down,_ he thinks. His snarky reply is cut short by the sight of Tori standing with her fist raised in the air. "Oh, hey Tori." He gets a fuzzy feeling when he sees her that he'd rather not dwell on.

He steps aside to let her pass through, and she hesitantly steps into his make-shift home. The door clangs shut behind her and she moves more into the room.

"What brings you to my humble abode?" He asks, moving to sit back on the couch.

"You have neon signs. It's hardly humble," She says and smiles faintly.

"Very true." He says, pretending to mull it over. "So, what's up?"

She doesn't answer, and she seems to be looking everywhere but at him. "Are you okay?" He asks.

She still says nothing, her eyes fixated on a point above his head. "Did something happen?" He's genuinely worried now. She's not being herself.

Her eyes finally rest on his face, looking but not really seeing. "Is it Andre?" He grits out through his teeth. _The Asshole, _he thinks, but then has to scold himself. _No. Andre's my friend. _He internally rolls his eyes. Right.

"You weren't in class today." She says, drawing his attention.

"Oh, yeah, I uh, ditched after first period today." She nods. "Yeah, we just kind of chilled at the beach all day."

"We?" She asks. The way she looks almost makes him not want to answer. Her face is blank, yet there's an unnamed feeling brewing beneath the surface. It's kind of creepy, he decides.

"Cat and I. She skipped with me." He says, finally.

The raising of her eyebrows was so quick that he would've passed it off as a twitch or something, had he been less observant. "Oh, I see." She says, and moves to sit next to him on the couch. As she does so, he catches a whiff of her perfume and it goes straight to his head.

They sit in comfortable silence for a bit, watching the muted TV that he forgot he had switched on earlier.

"Are we going to talk about it?" She says, breaking the silence.

"About what?" He asks, still watching the screen.

"About what happened. About you and I. What does it mean?" She asks, almost embarrassed. All of the giddiness from earlier seemed to have vanished, and now she kept giving him shy glances- in a bad way. He didn't like it.

"What do you want it to mean?"

"Don't do that!" She laughs quietly.

"Don't do what?"

"Answer a question with a question. It bothers me," She answers truthfully.

He chuckles. "Sorry."

"S'ok, I guess. You didn't know." She says. "But, seriously. What does this mean for us, Beck?" She asks.

He doesn't answer right away because he really honestly doesn't quite know. He tells her as much.

There's a lull in the conversation and he can feel the tension between them. He can't decipher if it's good or bad.

She turns to him suddenly. She gathers her wits and asks her next question. "Do you want to date me or not?" She sounds almost exasperated.

_YES. _His brain screams, but his mouth is frozen in action. "I-" He falters, and so does her face, if it could get anymore expressionless.

"So... I guess that's a no..." She trails off, feeling the head flood her face.

"No. Wait, yes? What? I'm confusing myself..." He says.

"Stop dancing around it." She says in a sharp tone.

He feels like facepalming.

"I'm just going to go, then." She shuffles her feet, but doesn't stand up yet.

"Wait..." He tries.

She swivels around and looks him dead in the eye.

It takes him about .0001 seconds to realize what she's doing before her lips descend hungrily down on his own.

It takes even less time for him to react; it's automatic for him. She all but jumps on him, but he's not complaining.

He registers her fingers in his hair, and his own tighten on her waist, holding her in what is probably too-tight of a hold, but he can't bring himself to stop.

It's like they can't get close enough, she shifts and he reacts; all an unrehearsed yet flawless dance. It's like sensory overload; she's everywhere.

Before he can even realize, she's off of him and in a standing position three feet away from the couch.

"Wha-?" He tries, but nothing coherent comes out of his mouth. If it were even possible, he's almost brutally confused now. All his racing thoughts were bouncing around in his head like a hive of angry wasps. The only legitimate thing at the forefront of his mind; TORI. He positively loses himself in her sometimes. _That can't be good for my health,_ he thinks absently. _She'll be the death of me, I swear._

He runs a hand over his face and looks at her own stone-faced expression. "Tori?" He asks, as she backs away from him towards the door.

"What are you- wait!" He says as she makes a beeline for the trailer door. "Where are you going! Wait!" He exclaims and breathes a sigh of relief when she stops right before the door and turns on her heel to face him.

"Wait? You want me to wait? I've done nothing but wait this whole time!" She sighs angrily and he almost shrinks away as she stomps back over to stand in front of his position, still on the couch.

"Tori-" He says again but she cuts him off.

"No, Beck. Let me speak. I think you owe me that much." She takes a breath and begins. "Look, I'm going to be honest with you. I... I like you, Beck, I really like you, which I'm sure you've already figured that out by now. But, point is, you've always been this kind of unattainable thing I could never have. The second I saw you I was in too deep. But I never acted upon anything, because I'm not the type to ruin relationships for fun. You were with Jade, and I accepted that. But them when you broke up... I thought... It doesn't matter what I thought. But, I got you back together. Why? Because that's what friends do for other friends. I wasn't thrilled to play Dr. Love, but I did it, for you." She swallows. "You run hot and cold; I never know what to expect. One minute you're into me and the next you're distant, like today. I just don't know... And then there are all these rumors that you're sneaking around with Cat and here you tell me that you just ditched to go 'hang out' at the beach all day _alone_... It's just... stressful, you know? I'm not an trophy, or a game. I don't like to be won, and I especially hate to be played. And that's kind of what I feel like you're doing, right now. Playing me. And I'd totally walk away and say, 'See ya, have a nice life'. But I could never do that. I care way too much. On the one hand I know this is bad to want you. And I have Andre in my ear, confirming all my fears... but then you go and be like you were yesterday and it's just... so great. And by great I mean confusing as hell." She blows out a breath. "You just said no to dating me, but then I practically throw myself at you and you accept with no hesitation. You can't just use me like that!" She stops her voice from yelling. "Look, I understand if you don't want to be with me. But... but that's where it ends. We'd be friends; nothing more, nothing less. No friends-with-benefits, no off and on flirt-ationships. Say the word, and I'll back off." She concludes.

He takes a second.

She's putting herself on the line right now for him, and he has the potential to make or break this situation. It could go either way. Of what he is certain: He wants Tori. He loves Tori. He ha-he strongly dislikes Andre's subliminal shit. Cat is his best friend, who needs him despite something weird occurring today between them. Tori is the one who he's wanted, always wanted. Tori loves him, he heard her tell Andre herself. Jade would pretend to be put out if they got together...but considering what he learned today, (which he has yet to even process) she'd probably not care all that much right now. Tori is it... and he's really freaking stupid for waiting this long.

He gets up and stands in front of her.

"I don't..." He trails off he sees her face fall. "Want..." He keeps her in suspense. She's sure he's about to let her down easy. "You..." Her face positively crumbles. "...To back off." He finishes and she confusedly looks up at him. He continues while he has the balls. "That is the opposite of what I want. I want people to mind their own business, I want my dad to get the fuck over himself, I want friends to act like they give a shit... and I want you. I want you all to myself." He says simply as if it's the easiest thing in the world.

Her mouth opens and closes and he takes the opportunity to kiss her again, and hard. Before he can get carried away, he pulls back, hands on her elbows. He nods at her. "Yes. That's a yes, for clarification." Her face splits into a grin. "I really-" But he never gets to finish his thought because all of his words are swallowed up by her.

"I think we should keep it quiet for now-"

"Maybe we shouldn't tell people yet-"

They both laugh as they speak in unison.

"My thoughts exactly." She says.

"Yeah, I don't think Andre would approve." He replies sarcastically, rolling his eyes at the thought.

"Hey, Beck?" She says, and takes a step away from him.

He cocks his head at her actions and answers. "Yeah?"

"Talking about Andre..." She says, and reverses in her steps until the back of her knees hit something; the bed. "Is the _last _thing I wanna do right now," She gets a gleam in her eye that's less then sweet. He loves it.

He narrows his eyes playfully. "Vega... are you propositioning me?" He asks and advances on her. "Because, I kind of like it."

She smirks and pulls him roughly forward by the front of his shirt.

"Stop talking," She commands and he responds in the only way he knows how; kissing her senseless, and pushing her down on the mattress.

They both feel the loss of gravity for a second, and the impact of the bed makes them both bounce a little.

_Consider the subject changed,_ she thinks.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>**

**-Sorry for the wait. **

**-First draft of this chapter got deleted, and I didn't save it. So I wrote some of this from memory, and I changed the rest. I don't know how I feel about it. Sorry for errors. I was desperate to replace it.**

**-Reviews appreciated. **

**Stay happy.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15<strong>

"_Suddenly I can see what I didn't before, and I don't care what they say anymore. 'Cause I'm falling, falling. Finally falling, falling!"_

Beck stirred in his sleep a little upon hearing an indistinguishable noise.

"_Suddenly I can see what I didn't before, and I don't care what they say anymore. 'Cause I'm falling, falling. Finally falling, falling!"_

"What the hell?" He grumbled as he heard the noise again, wiping his eyes. As it faded away, he sighed and turned over to fall back asleep.

"_Suddenly I can see what I didn't before, and I don't care what they say anymore. 'Cause I'm falling, falling. Finally falling, falling!"_

"Seriously?" He asked aloud and opened his eyes as he realized that the noise was in fact a song—the song he and Tori sang together in the musical. _Isn't that Tori's ringtone, though? _He absently thinks, but the thought just grazes over his sleep-filled brain as his eyes droop shut once more.

Suddenly, he feels movement on his right side. "What the fuck?" He says, as his heart jumps into his throat and his eyes shoot open to look next to him.

He sees Tori, her eyes opening wide as she was startled by his exclamation. She then saw him staring at her and let out a little scream of surprise.

They collect their bearings and she speaks. "Don't scream like that! You scared the crap out of me!" She says.

"Sorry," He says, but then laughs aloud. "It was funny though. You should have seen your face!" He then proceeds to laugh his ass off.

"Me? You got scared too!" She grins.

"I did not." He claims as he tries to stop chuckling.

"Yeah you did." She says and smiles brightly.

His words die in his throat as he looks into her deep, brown eyes. He takes a moment to take in her tanned skin, the elegant structure of her face, her sweet smile. It strikes him through the core, just how lucky he is to be laying with her at that moment. He feels elated. And then everything from yesterday comes back to him, and he realizes, she's his. Well, not like he owns her, but more like… he has her. He finally has her.

"What?" She asks, and he realizes he was staring. And grinning. That might be creepy.

"Just… you." He says, and leans forward to pick up where they left off the previous night, when—

"_Suddenly I can see what I didn't before, and I don't care what they say anymore. 'Cause I'm falling, falling. Finally falling, falling!"_

"My phone! Oh my gosh, I'm in _so_ much trouble!" She exclaims and shoots up in the small bed to look for the ringing device. She scrambles around the bed, as he just lays there. "Wow, thanks for the help," She tells him and rolls her eyes as he smirks and lays back with his hands behind his head. As he does, his hands touch something under his pillow. He pulls it out, to see it's the MIA PearPhone in question. _That's why it was so loud._ He thinks.

"Hey, look," He says, and holds it up. She looks up from the foot of the bed where she was searching through the crumpled up comforter.

"Yes!" She exclaims, and crawls up to reach for it, but he decides to be funny and holds it over his head. "Beck!" She says, exasperated. She stretches up for the phone a little too far, and ends up falling on top of him. "Oh!" She squeaks from the impact and he's too stunned to be evil anymore, so he innocently hands it to her.

She smiles down at him. "Sorry," She says a little sheepishly.

"Oh, no. It's not a problem," He smirks, as he regained his composure.

She giggles, as her phone goes off again. "Okay, now shut up, it's my mom." She clears her throat and answers the phone in a neutral tone. "Hey, Mom."

"No, I'm fine. I'm sorry I didn't check in last night I—" She pauses and Beck hears a voice at the other end talking in very urgent tones. "No, Mom, listen, I forgot to call last night," She says. "I was at Cat's house. We hung out after school and went to a movie, and then afterwards we bowled with everybody… who's everybody? Uh, Andre, Robbie, Cat, me, Jade and Beck." At the mention of his name, he smiles and starts playing with her hair. "I told you! I was busy the whole night and I didn't get back to Cat's until late, and I didn't want to wake you up by calling." She lies smoothly and he hears the muted voice of her mom lecturing her, even though he can't make out the words. He stops playing with her hair and runs his fingers up her sides, over the fabric of her shirt. She swallows and furrows her brow at him. He smiles devilishly and moves his hands to the skin on the small of her back, where her shirt had ridden up. He draws little circles with his fingers, his touch feather light. She sighs happily and closes her eyes as she tries to focus on the conversation with her mother.

"Yes, I know it was irresponsible not to call you. I'm really sorry—" She stopped again, as he moved his hands under her shirt, slowly, tantalizingly trailing up her sides. He feels her breathing change above him, and she makes agreeable noises to her mother as she tries to keep quiet and under control.

He pauses his ministrations as his fingers brush against the side of her bra. "Yeah, Mom, I understand…" She stills and he stays brave. Lightly, almost imperceptibly, he runs a finger over the outer edges of her bra on her chest. "I-" Her voice shakes, and she bites her lip, and it's the hottest thing he's ever seen. "No, nothing, Mom, I'm okay." He silently chuckles. "Right now? Yeah I'm at Cat's house … we just woke up." She opens her eyes and looks at him as he laughs.

"I don't know, I'll be home later… love you too… okay. I'm sorry again. Okay, okay bye." She hangs up the phone and throws it behind her on the bed. "You are… a terrible person," She whispers.

"Terrible, huh?" He teases.

"I was talking to my mom! What if she like, heard you or something?" Her breath hitches as his hands, stilled under shirt, started tracing lines on her skin again.

"That's what makes it fun," he winked at her. "Watching you start to unravel is... quite an experience."

He slid his hands out and placed them on her hips. "Well you're not going to watch it happen completely. At least, not now." She smiles, but then rolls off of him to lay next to him. They both stare up at the trailer ceiling.

"So…" She says. "Last night…"

"Was…?" He trails off, unsure of what she was going to say.

"Dramatic. And then the later part was fun." She laughs.

"Which part?" He knows exactly what part of the night she's referring to, when they had… intimate relations—he just wants to hear her say it. They didn't have sex, but still it wasn't something she'd want her mother to know about.

"You know… when we…" She seems nervous all of a sudden.

"When we what?" He smirked.

"When we… gosh, Beck don't be stubborn. You know what I mean." She sighs.

They're quiet for a while after that.

"I should probably get ready to go." She says finally, but contradictory to her words she reached for his hand, and locked their fingers together.

He says nothing.

Neither of them moved, content to just lay there forever.

Yeah, she was his. And Beck was determined to keep it that way.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Happy New Year ! **

**Where do I begin ? First off, I am so sorry I haven't posted in... shit I haven't posted in like almost 2 months. Wooooooow. I won't sit here and try to make up a thousand excuses, because I know how it is to wait for an update, except for I have to stress to you that school has been hectic. The last few weeks of the semester are pretty much crunch time. Plus, I am at the peak of my season, so I wasn'****t able to find the time to post since early November. But, I am off school now, but I go back in like 2 days... so I guess that doesn't help.**

**Anywaysss , I am completely out of prewritten chapters. I mean I have been out since last chapter, but now I feel like I hit a brickwall. I only have a few wisps of ideas that I could toy around with, so this story might be winding to a close in a few chapters. **

**In regards to this chapter, I am not happy with it. I have been working on it all day, because I had some free time. But they're together now, and they're adjusting to being a couple, and soon they're gonna feel the pressures of keeping it from everybody. Oh and I'm pretty certain this story will stay a T-rating, although its starting to feature some more thematic elements. Although, if something happens that is extremely provocative I might have it as an M- outtake . So, look for those; I'll let you know.**

**Lmao oh and I reread this story a few times and wow... kind of embarrassing how much your writing can change. Don't judge me c:  
><strong>

**SO BASICALLY: I'm sorry for the wait, and I'm sorry this chapter isn't up to par.I promise I will update when I can.  
><strong>

**Love you all, reviews are great, and thanks for those who've been putting this on alert and the like**

***OH and if anyone has any ideas or comments or anything they want to share with me for this story, please don't hesitate to PM me !**

**alright, staycool(:**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

_She was his. And Beck was determined to keep it that way._

The next few days passed by in a blur. It still felt so surreal to Beck that he finally got what he wanted, he got Tori. They were keeping their relationship a secret for now, although anyone with two eyes and a brain could tell they were head over heels for each other. Not so secretive glances and smiles over the lunch table and across the hall did not go unnoticed by the rest of the group, namely Andre. There was still bad blood between him and Beck, but they hadn't spoken a word since their heated exchange in the parking lot before Beck and Tori's date. As for Beck, he honestly was over the situation. He had what he wanted, and though it sucked to lose touch with someone he once considered a best friend, Tori's love was a sweet reprieve. It was a bit uncomfortable that he was forced to spend time with Andre, be it during lunch, in class, or when the group hung out. But they both had the same group of friends and there was nothing either of them could do about that.

Beck found himself smiling to himself more often and filled with this peculiar fuzzy feeling every time he laid eyes on the object of his affections, Victoria Vega. If he admitted it to himself, he was happier than he'd been in a long time, maybe even his whole life. Tori was the sun, and he couldn't get enough of her warmth. He associated her with the beach and smiling and laughing and happiness and freedom. And that's what he loved most about her, he felt happy and free. Like he could take on anything, with her by his side.

By the time Friday came around, Beck couldn't wait for the final bell to ring so he could begin his weekend with Tori. They had plans to hang out, and Beck intended to take her on a real date, although the details of which he had not worked out in his head, yet. Maybe he would take her to that new Thai place that just opened up. Or maybe a carriage ride downtown? He mentally snorted. He was scaring himself with the cheesiness of his own thoughts, but hey, for Tori, no expense is spared. As he walked through the hall on his way to his final class of the day, he smiled to himself.

"Becky!" He heard his name being called by a familiar twinkling voice. He turned around to see Cat standing near her locker, flanked by Robbie. He fought his way through the crowd over to her to see her clutching a lime green piece of paper in her tiny fist.

"Whatcha got there?" He asked.

"A paper!" she exclaimed excitedly.

He laughed. "State of the art first edition paper or something? What am I missing?"

"The party of the year is what you're gonna be missing!" Rex chimed in, from Robbie's side.

"Rex!" Robbie protested. "You promised you'd let me and Cat tell him!"

"Tell me what? What party? I'm so confused," he said.

"Okay, okay! Well, I heard from Mackenzie Lyons that there's gonna be a huge bonfire party at the beach tonight at 9! Absolutely _everyone _is going to be there, Becky." Cat scoffed, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"And why is this life-changing news, again?" Beck inquired. He still didn't understand the wow-factor quite yet.

"Because it's a party! And it's fun!" Robbie answered for Cat.

"Exactly!" Cat agreed.

"Look, a teenage bonfire party with the entire populous of Hollywood Arts sounds great and everything, but I sort of already have plans tonight," Beck said. He internally sighed. He didn't feel like going to a huge rager tonight. He just wanted a quiet, intimate evening with Tori. That thought was the only thing getting him through this day.

"You can bring her, silly!" Cat grinned and thumped Beck on the chest.

"Bring who?" Beck played dumb.

"You can bring Tori!" Cat exclaimed, a little too loudly for his liking.

"Bring me where?" Tori inquired as she appeared from behind the corner with a bright smile. Beck's pulse quickened upon seeing her and returned her smile, but his smile quickly faded as he caught sight of Andre dutifully at her side. He gave Beck a cold stare to which Beck rolled his eyes.

"Hey," he greeted her smoothly.

"Becky, tell her!" Cat squealed.

"Okay, calm down, spazz," he affectionately teased the redhead. "There's apparently a huge bonfire party tonight down at the beach. _Everyone _who's _anyone _is going to be there." He mocked.

Cat stuck her tongue out at Beck and turned to Tori. "Tori, you guys should totally come! It's going to be insane!"

"That actually sounds like a lot of fun!" Tori replied, much to Beck's surprise and Cat's excitement.

"Really?" Beck asked, looking over at Tori.

"Yeah! I haven't been to a Hollywood Arts party in a while, and I love bonfires! It sounds like a great time. Count me in, Cat!" Tori grinned at the shorter girl, who was currently bouncing up and down in glee.

"Count me in too, doll," Rex chimed in.

"But Rex! What about the Galaxy Wars marathon on tonight?" Robbie asked, sounding genuinely upset. The puppet on his arm placed a small arm across his face, as if in resignation.

"Rob, how many times do I have to tell you, Galaxy Wars comes second to fine ladies. And do you know how many delicious females will be frolicking in front of the fire tonight? This is too good of an opportunity to pass up, my friend. Don't you want me to spread my wings, man? Don't cramp my style!" Robbie continued a heated exchange with his puppet as Beck began to tune them out, as did the rest of the group standing there.

"Yeah, it sounds like a great idea to me. We can _all _spend some time together." Andre chimed in for the first time, with a pointed look at Beck. He guessed that Tori had spilled to him their plans to hang out that evening and Beck squinted in disdain. Of course he would want them all at the party, that way he could keep an eye on Tori.

"I'm glad you feel that way Andre, 'cause I sort of volunteered you to be in charge of music!" Cat blurted out to Andre's dismay.

"Whoa, whoa, hold up, you did what?" The boy asked.

"Yeah! I mean it's not like a paying gig or anything, and it's not really on stage or anything, 'cause it's just manning the stereo out of the back of Kev Costa's dad's van, but it's a really important job! You can't have a party without music and you have the best taste in music out of everyone that I know! You're amazing at coming up with awesome playlists under pressure! Just remember the Holiday Bash of 2010!" Cat exclaimed.

"Well, alright I guess…" Andre reluctantly agreed.

"Yay!" Cat squealed. You would have to show up early, around 7:30, to get set up. Robbie and I can ride with you!" Cat then proceeded to steer Andre off in the opposite direction not before throwing a smirk in Beck's direction, almost imperceptible to anyone who wasn't paying close attention. Beck saw what she was doing. She was setting it up for Beck to ask Tori to accompany him to the party as a date.

Beck politely excused himself and Tori from a still bickering Robbie and Rex, and quickly guided her to the janitor's closet at the end of the hall.

Tori turned the light on before turning to Beck with a small smile as Beck shut the door behind them.

"So… you really want to go to this party?" He asked, lamely.

"Yeah, I do. It honestly seems like a blast." She answered, simply.

He studied her for a moment. "Well, it's not what I was expecting our first real date to be, but it's better than nothing. Ms. Vega, would you be ever so inclined to accompany me to the raging bonfire beach bash this evening? Only the best of the best will be in attendance, so it seems fitting that they require your participation."

Tori let out a charming laugh. "What did you just say?"

He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. "Honestly I don't even know. I was trying to sound charming." he admitted with a shy grin.

Tori's smile grew even wider. "Well, I would be honored to accompany you, Mr. Oliver," she curtseyed in a big show of politeness.

They both laughed and just looked at each other. The room shifted, and suddenly Beck was hyper-aware of the small space they were in and subconsciously found himself taking a step closer to her. Their bodies were just centimeters apart, and Tori nervously licked her lips.

Beck became entranced by her stare. He saw flecks of gold in her beautiful golden stare and tried to read her thoughts simply by looking deep into her eyes. His raised his right hand up to place on her cheek. She swallowed, but otherwise remained still. It was so quiet, Beck was afraid she could hear his heart going insane behind his rib cage. He was sure it was going to beat right out of his chest onto the floor beside them.

She opened her mouth to say something, but whatever it might've been was erased by Beck's own mouth descending upon hers. The kiss was strong, yet tender. Loving yet passionate. Patient yet hungry. His body was on fire. Every fiber in his being was combusting as her hands came up to knot in his hair as his other hand gripped her hip bone pulling her closer, if that were even possible. He felt the pit of his stomach constrict and open, and he felt as if he had jumped off of a building and his only lifeline was this girl in front of him. He didn't know when he would hit the bottom, but he didn't care. He was falling head first, with no reservations. There was no going back. His heart belonged to Tori Vega and it always had. He felt stupid for every trying to deny it.

* * *

><p>Beck pulled into his driveway that afternoon with the tingles of excitement in his veins. In just a few short hours he would be with Tori, and although it wasn't under ideal circumstances, they would be at his favorite place, the beach.<p>

The rest of the school day had flown by in a blur. When he and Tori had come up for air they realized with surprise (and to him, amusement) that they had missed the first twenty minutes of class. And with one last kiss and a smile they went their separate ways to their classes to try and hurry the day along. She had rushed off to her class in the Blackbox, but he had taken his time walking to his Theater History class and was met with everyone's judging eyes as he took his seat in the back. His teacher droned on about something irrelevant as he stared at the clock on the wall until it was time to go.

"Beck, a word please," his teacher called after him but he pretended not to hear as he rushed out of the door amongst the sea of people eager to get their weekend started.

Now, as he unlocked the door to his trailer he heard footsteps approaching him from behind. He turned to find his mother approaching him with an unreadable look on her face.

"Hey, mom. What's up?" He asked as she reached him and he leaned against the side of his trailer.

"Hi, sweetie. How was your day?" She asked casually but there was something off about her demeanor. Usually warm and comforting, she seemed skittish and nervous.

"Fine." He said bluntly. "What's wrong?"

With a small sigh she opened the trailer and motioned for him to follow her inside. He obeyed and she sat precariously on the edge of his unmade bed with no hesitation. Usually she chastised him about the perpetually messy state of his little dwelling, but she made no mention of the empty food wrappers in and around the garbage can, the clothes thrown haphazardly about the small space, or the unmade bed she was currently perched on.

"Your father and I had a discussion last night," she began. Beck groaned. His father probably sent her out to pass along another lecture criticizing his life choices and how he was a failure of a son.

"He found out about the money." She said simply.

Beck froze. His father had long since terminated his allowance, around the time he was fourteen, claiming that Beck wasted it on 'distractions' and that if he wanted his own money to spend how he wanted then he should get a real job and be responsible and all of that nonsense. His mother dutifully stood beside his father but later Beck came to find out that she didn't quite agree with her husband's rash decisions. She had been secretly transferring money into his account for a few years, feeling the need to try and support her son. She felt terrible lying to her husband, but she couldn't just cut off her youngest child. Beck knew that if his father found out what his wife had been doing behind his back, there would be hell to pay.

Which is why hearing the words coming out of his mother's mouth were a heart-stopper.

"What do you mean, he found out about the money?" Beck asked. He needed clarification of the shit hitting the fan.

"It was my fault. I left my bank statement open on the computer and he happened upon it and he put two and two together." She paused. "We got into a huge fight," he voice shook.

Beck was stunned. He didn't know what to say.

His mother began to speak again. "I brought up the fact that he was still supporting your sister even though she was burning through her college fund like wildfire. He didn't take too kindly to that."

Beck looked at his mother with surprise. "You actually said that to him?"

"In so many words..." she sounded weak now. He knew it must have pained her to stand up to his father and voice her disagreements. She hated conflict and always used to try to avoid it at all costs in the past. In a way he was touched. She stood up for him. She had never done that in the past. She always tried to grin and bear it when she had to or change the subject. It was silent for a few minutes. Eventually she spoke up again. "Also, your school called. Something about you missing a lot of class. They weren't too informative on the voicemail, I'll have to return the call on Monday."

Hollywood Arts had a very laissez-faire approach when it came to student discipline. They rarely contacted parents except in case of emergency, which is one of the reasons Beck enjoyed the school so much. They let him live his life without involving his parents in everything, but not now. He must had been skipping more than he realized for them to contact his parents. He'd have to cut back and save it for special occasions.

"Have you been skipping class, Beckett?" his mother had a stern tone to her voice. He was glad she didn't sound like she was on the verge of breaking down, as she had before.

"Just a few times, mom. No big deal." He brushed it off.

"It is a big deal. Your father already detests that school; if he finds out that you're not attending class, he'll-"

"Ship me off to military school. I know, I get it." Beck finished for her. "I've heard that one before."

His mother sighed and placed her hand on his cheek. "My son... I'm so sorry."

"For what?" he furrowed his brow. What did she have to be sorry for?

"I'm sorry that you don't have a good relationship with your father. You two were so close when you were young. You did everything together. But then you both grew older and began to butt heads... I just wish I could have prevented this." She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Prevented what?"

"This," she gestured around the room. "You live in a trailer for God's sake! You two can't even be in the same room as each other without jumping at each other's throats," she sighed again. "I blame myself." She admitted.

"What could you possibly blame yourself for, mom? You have done nothing wrong." Beck said adamantly, taking both of her hands in his. "You are a wonderful mother."

"I'm supposed to be the peacemaker, but I've failed. You know, you two are more alike than you realize and that's exactly why you can't get along. Your father sees himself in you," she declares.

Beck felt his face harden. _I am nothing like my father, _he thought.

His mother placed a kiss on his cheek. "But these are my burdens, not yours, my love." She stood up and he followed suit. "Now what do you have planned for the evening? A date with that mysterious girl you have yet to tell me about?" She teased.

"Just a get together with some people at school. Nothing major," he countered.

"Alright... well just be home at a reasonable hour, okay?" She headed for the door before looking back.

"I still need to meet her. She has to be really something to get rid of Jade," she laughed.

He playfully rolled his eyes. "Bye, mom." he called as she closed the door behind her.

With a sigh, Beck looked around his trailer. It really was a mess. He decided to straighten up a bit before getting ready for the party later. He had promised Tori he would pick her up at 8, so he had some time to spare. After about an hour, and Beck was satisfied that the place was looking semi-decent, he grabbed some clothes and a towel and headed toward the house. Luckily, his father was still at work so there would be no chance of running into him. Beck made his way up the stairs into his old room and tossed the clothes on the bed. He walked to the bathroom and ran the water for the shower before stepping out of his clothes and into the hot stream of water. He ran his head under the scalding water as he replayed everything his mother had told him.

He had no idea what was going to happen now that his father knew that his mother had been sending him money every month for three years. But frankly, he didn't want to think about any of that now. All he wanted to do is be with Tori right now.

Beck took his time getting ready and by the time he checked his PearPhone, it was 7:45. He got in his car, took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a beat. He was trying to clear his head of all the bullshit. Tonight was about Tori. And with that thought, he started the car and pulled out of his driveway, headed towards Tori's place.


End file.
